Australian Information Commissioner takes privacy action against Facebook

The news that, on 9 March 2020, the Australian Information Commissioner launched action against Facebook in the Federal Court seeking a potential fine of $1 billion, has made significant headlines, although more for the size of the potential fine than the problem of difficult to use settings allowing unauthorised use of personal information.

However, looking at the facts and timeline of this, the decision to only now begin litigation raises the issue of what it means for other Australian businesses.

The claim

The facts to which the claim relates occurred between March 2014 and May 2015 and relate to the privacy of approximately 311,127 affected Australian individuals who were Facebook users who used or whose Facebook friends used the "This is Your Digital Life" application (app).