Facebook-parent Meta settles with Australia's privacy watchdog over Cambridge Analytica lawsuit

Meta Platforms has agreed to a A$50 million settlement ($31.85 million), Australia's privacy watchdog said on Tuesday, closing long-drawn, expensive legal proceedings for the Facebook parent over the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner had alleged that personal information of some users was being disclosed to Facebook's personality quiz app, This is Your Digital Life, as part of the broader scandal.

The breaches were first reported by the Guardian in early 2018, and Facebook received fines from regulators in the United States and the UK in 2019.

Australia's privacy regulator has been caught up in the legal battle with Meta since 2020. It convinced the high court in March 2023 to not hear an appeal, which is considered to be a win that allowed the watchdog to continue its prosecution.

In June 2023, the country's federal court ordered Meta and the privacy commissioner to enter mediation.

Cambridge Analytica, a British consulting firm, was known to have kept personal data of millions of Facebook users without their permission, before using the data predominantly for political advertising, including assisting Donald Trump and the Brexit campaign in the UK.

Meta did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.