Australian Court rejects Facebook appeal over Cambridge Analytica data

After a court dismissed Facebook's contention that it neither does business nor collects personal information in Australia, the social media giant has lost a significant battle with the Australian regulator over the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) is suing Facebook, now Meta, for violating the privacy of over 300,000 Australian Facebook users in the Cambridge Analytica incident, which was first reported by the Guardian more than four years ago.

Using a personality test app called This is Your Digital Life, Cambridge Analytica gathered the personal data of millions of Facebook users without their consent throughout the 2010s. The data was then mostly used for political advertising, particularly to aid the Brexit campaign and Donald Trump's campaign.