Brazil has fined Facebook 6.6 million reais ($1.64 million) for improper sharing of user data. The fine is the latest penalty levied against the company related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
That’s the maximum penalty Brazilian authorities could hit Facebook with before new data protection legislation comes into force. The Brazilian General Personal Data Protection Act will be enacted in August as things stand, though a proposal has been made to delay the enforcement date by two years. Facebook has 10 days to appeal the fine. Otherwise, it’ll have to pay up in 30 days.
The Ministry of Justice and Public Security said data related to 443,000 Brazilian Facebook users was used for “at the very least, questionable” purposes. Facebook was said to be unable to prove the impacted number of users was less than that figure, according to ZDNet. Cambridge Analytica obtained data for around 87 million users through a personality quiz app on the Facebook platform.
The penalty follows the UK’s data protection watchdog fining Facebook £500,000 ($656,000) earlier this year, following a Cambridge Analytica-related investigation. While the US didn’t ostensibly fine Facebook over the saga, the company paid $5 billion to settle a related government lawsuit. As part of that settlement, Facebook also agreed on new terms over how it handles user data along with a management structure shakeup.
Facebook has been in the crosshairs of regulators in a number of countries and jurisdictions over privacy concerns. It’s under investigation from 47 US states over its handling of user data, along with purported antitrust and advertising issues.
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