FTC Grants Final Approval to Settlement with Former Cambridge Analytica CEO, App Developer over Allegations they Deceived Consumers over Collection of Facebook Data

The Federal Trade Commission has granted final approval to a settlement with the former CEO of Cambridge Analytica, LLC and an app developer who worked with the company to resolve allegations they used deceptive tactics to collect personal information from tens of millions of Facebook users for voter profiling and targeting.

In its complaint, the FTC alleged that app developer Aleksandr Kogan worked with Cambridge Analytica and its former CEO Alexander Nix to enable Kogan’s GSRApp to collect Facebook data from app users and their Facebook friends. The FTC alleged that app users were falsely told the app would not collect users’ names or other identifiable information. The GSRApp, however, collected users’ Facebook User ID, which connects individuals to their Facebook profiles.

The Commission recently announced an Opinion that found that Cambridge Analytica, which filed for bankruptcy in 2018, engaged in similar conduct in violation of the FTC Act.

As part of the settlement, Kogan and Nix are prohibited from making false or deceptive statements regarding the extent to which they collect, use, share, or sell personal information, as well as the purposes for which they collect, use, share, or sell such information. In addition, they are required to delete or destroy any personal information collected from consumers via the GSRApp and any related work product that originated from the data.

The Commission received one comment on the proposed settlement. The Commission voted 5-0 to finalize the order and to send a response to the commenter.

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