News about data privacy

A New Mexico judge ruled that Meta must pay the state $25 billion in the Cambridge Analytica case, after a jury last month found the company had deceived users. The penalty comes a couple of months after Meta agreed to pay $18 billion to settle claims brought by 48 other states. Cambridge Analytica improperly harvested personal data from millions of Facebook users for targeted political advertising, including through a personality quiz app that reached roughly 87 million users worldwide. Jurors found the misconduct affected all of the state's more than 2.1 million residents. Meta said it disagreed with the verdict and would keep defending itself.

A New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay $25 billion in penalties in a data privacy case tied to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. A Santa Fe jury found in September that Meta misled state residents about how it collects and protects user data and curbs harmful content, with more than 43 million violations of the state's unfair practices act. Judge Francis Mathew applied the highest allowed penalty of $5,000 per violation; the filing shows the state was initially awarded $219.5 billion, but the penalty was reduced to $25 billion, and interest of 15% a year will accrue until it is paid in full. Earlier, Meta settled many Cambridge Analytica-related privacy suits in a nearly $17 billion August deal with a coalition of state attorneys general over child safety and mental health, but New Mexico did not take part and proceeded to trial.

Judge Francis Mathew ordered Meta to pay New Mexico $25 billion after a jury found the company deceived users about its privacy and content moderation policies. Jurors found more than 43 million violations of state consumer protection law, tied to the harvesting of roughly 87 million Facebook profiles by Cambridge Analytica. The state had sought $35 to $40 billion, while Meta argued for no more than $3.4 billion and said New Mexico failed to prove anyone was harmed. Attorney General Raúl Torrez called it one of the largest state verdicts against a company in U.S. history and said the money will go to the state's education fund. Meta plans to appeal, while 48 other states settled with Facebook for $18 billion in August; New Mexico was the only state to take the case to trial.