HOLY SHIT........ 65,009 to be exact.
SINGAPORE — More than 65,000 Facebook users in Singapore may have had their information “improperly shared” with political consultancy and data mining firm Cambridge Analytica.
Responding to queries from TODAY, the social media giant said that it would notify the 65,009 people here who may have been part of the data breach, but did not specify when.
Facebook is embroiled in a scandal involving the data of up to 87 million users worldwide. The Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) in Singapore said that it is in close contact with Facebook and is looking into the matter.
“PDPC is concerned that individuals in Singapore are affected,” its spokesperson said. “Facebook users are encouraged to review their privacy settings in order to control how their information is used or shared.”
The commission did not say what penalties Facebook could face if found to have breached regulations here.
Cambridge Analytica is the firm which worked with United States President Donald Trump’s election team in 2016. It acquired the data of US citizens through a mobile application and used it to develop a software programme to predict and influence voters.
The app was built by Cambridge University academic Aleksandr Kogan through his company, in collaboration with Cambridge Analytica.
About 71 million of the estimated 87 million Facebook users affected are Americans, The Washington Post reported.
Facebook discovered the data had been harvested in late 2015, but failed to alert users at the time.
The update on the number of Singapore users affected came on the back of Facebook’s announcement on Wednesday (US time) that it would restrict the information that apps could use when connected by users to Facebook.
More at https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/more-65000-singapore-facebook-users-may-have-been-affected-cambridge-analytica-data-breach
Still nothing in comparison to the utterly embarrassing international bribery scandal Keppel was involved in.