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German Data Protection Watchdog Initiates Data Leak Probe Against Facebook

© REUTERS / Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoA 3D-printed Facebook logo are seen in front of displayed binary digits in this illustration taken, March 18, 2018
A 3D-printed Facebook logo are seen in front of displayed binary digits in this illustration taken, March 18, 2018 - Sputnik International
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Hamburg Data Protection Authority, which is responsible for overseeing Facebook activities across Germany, has initiated an administrative case against the company in connection with Cambridge Analytica personal data leak scandal, the authority's head, Johannes Caspar, said Friday.

"We are currently examining a possibility to initiate proceedings against Facebook," Caspar said, as quoted by the Handelsblatt newspaper.

The US company is suspected of misusing the data of its users, he said, adding that the first step would be a hearing on the accusations.

READ MORE: Manipulating User Info to Political Ends on Facebook, Google a 'Serious Problem'

A laptop showing the Facebook logo is held alongside a Cambridge Analytica sign at the entrance to the building housing the offices of Cambridge Analytica, in central London - Sputnik International
Regulator Asks Cambridge Analytica to Check for Russian Facebook Users’ Data
In March, US media reported that the personal information of about 50 million Facebook users had been harvested without their permission by Cambridge Analytica consultancy, which worked for multiple political campaigns using the data to develop a mechanism that would predict and influence the behavior of voters.

Several countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel and Canada have already decided to probe Facebook. Earlier in April, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg provided a two-day testimony to the US House of Representatives and Senate on whether his company's data was used by Cambridge Analytica to influence the outcome of the 2016 US presidential election.

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