Ireland Watchdog Initiates Facebook Probe After Data Leak Reports: Reuters

Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) has begun a probe in Facebook Inc FB following the social media company’s data breach compromising 533 accounts, Reuters reports.
Facebook had acknowledged the data hack via manipulation of its contact sync tool. Business Insider reported the unrestricted availability of phone numbers and other user profile details before Sep. 2019 in a public database.
The inquiry was triggered by the DPC’s concerns over possible infringement of the E.U.’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or the Data Protection Act 2018.
The previous datasets published in 2019 and 2018 related to extensive scraping of Facebook’s website, which occurred between June 2017 and April 2018, before the GDPR kicked in.
However, the newly published data leak seemed to include the 2018 dataset and additional records from a possible later period as per the DPC.
The DPC had over 27 unresolved inquiries into U.S technology firms during the 2020 end, including 14 related to Facebook and its WhatsApp and Instagram subsidiaries.
Price action: FB shares traded lower by 1.76% at $304.32 on the last check Wednesday.