Privacy czar asks court to declare Facebook broke law governing personal info

OTTAWA — The federal privacy czar is asking a judge to declare that Facebook broke Canada’s law governing how the private sector can use personal information.

Privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien’s notice of application in the Federal Court of Canada comes after his office found the social-media giant’s lax practices allowed personal data to be used for political purposes.

A 2019 investigation report from Therrien and his British Columbia counterpart cited major shortcomings in Facebook’s procedures and called for stronger laws to protect Canadians.

The probe followed reports that Facebook let an outside organization use a digital app to access users’ personal information, and that some of the data was then passed to others.

Recipients of the information included the firm Cambridge Analytica, which was involved in U.S. political campaigns.

Facebook disputed the findings of the investigation and refused to implement its recommendations.

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