User Data in Indonesia not Misused - Facebook

Social media giant Facebook has guaranteed the Indonesian government that the personal data of about one million of its citizens had not been improperly accessed by the political consultancy Cambridge Analytica.

In the recent several months, Facebook has received much scrutiny.   These include multiple official investigations in the United States, Australia, and Europe.  The probe sprang from allegations of improper use of data for 87 million Facebook users by Cambridge Analytica.

There are more than 115 million people using Facebook in Indonesia.  The country has also been pressing the firm to explain how its citizen’s personal was harvested by Cambridge Analytica via a personality test.

“Facebook has reported to the Communications Ministry that no data from any Indonesian users was collected,” stated Deputy Communications Minister Semuel Pangerapan on Friday.

Meanwhile, a Facebook official had told the members of the parliament last April that 1,096,666 people in Indonesia may have had their date shared in an authorized manner.  This figure amounts to 1.26 percent of the global total.

This has compelled Communications Minister Rudiantara, who prefers to go by one name, to warn Facebook of a shutdown in Indonesia if personal data was found to have been breached.

However, Facebook stated on Thursday that it only indicated the number  of Indonesian users “who could potentially  have had their data accessed, not necessarily misused.”

“Both public records and existing evidence strongly indicate Aleksandr Kogan did not provide Cambridge Analytica or (its parent) SCL with data on people who use Facebook in Indonesia,” the social media titan added, pertaining to the researcher that was linked to the scandal.

Facebook claims that Kogan harvested data by creating an app on the platform that was downloaded by 270,000 people.  This provided access not only to their own but also their friend’s personal data.

Pangerapan stated that he believed Facebook had already improved options for users to limit access to data, though he did not say whether authorities would continue their inquiry.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian communications minister has already sent a letter to the company last April.  The letter attempted to seek out confirmation on technical measures to limit access to data on Facebook and more information on an audit the social media company was doing.

Furthermore, Britain’s information regulator on Wednesday imposed a relatively small but symbolic fine of 500,000 pounds on Facebook.  The fine was for breaches of data protection law.  It was the first move by a regulator to punish the social media giant for the controversy.

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