Facebook faces up to $10 billion fine in New Mexico over privacy violations

A jury in New Mexico ruled on Friday that Facebook deceived the state’s residents about the use of their personal data, in a trial involving the Cambridge Analytica scandal. New Mexico is the only state to take the case to trial — one of the largest privacy violations in internet history. The British firm Cambridge Analytica exploited the personal data of tens of thousands of Facebook users, collected without their knowledge, for political purposes.

The jury in Santa Fe found that each of the state’s 2.1 million residents had been deceived, which constitutes that many violations of the consumer protection law. It is now up to the judge to determine the fine to be imposed on Facebook, which could be up to $5,000 per violation. In theory, Facebook could be ordered to pay a fine of $10.5 billion. The scandal led to the bankruptcy of Cambridge Analytica in 2018.