Facebook to pay USD 100 million to settle with US SEC over misuse of user data

Facebook Inc agreed to pay a USD 100 million fine to settle charges by the US Securities and Exchange Commission that it misled investors for more than two years about the misuse of its users’ data, the regulator said on Wednesday.

The SEC said Facebook knew by Dec. 2015 that a researcher had improperly sold information related to tens of millions of users to data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica, but did not disclose the breach until March 2018, causing its stock to drop.

Facebook did not admit or deny wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.