Facebook Being Sued Over Cambridge Analytica Scandal
- Facebook is being sued for failing to protect users’ personal data in the Cambridge Analytica breach
- The scandal involved harvested Facebook data of 87 million people being used for advertising during elections
- A group legal action is being launched against Facebook for misuse of information from almost one million users in England and Wales
- Facebook said it has not received any documents regarding this claim
- The group taking action – Facebook You Owe Us – follows a similar mass action lawsuit against Google
- The case will argue that by taking data without consent, Facebook failed to meet its legal obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998
Facebook, Twitter and Google face questions from US senators
- The chief executives of Facebook, Twitter, and Google faced more than three and a half hours of questions from US Senators on Wednesday
- At present, the companies cannot be sued over what their users post online, or the decisions they make over what to leave up and takedown
- Some politicians have raised concerns this “sweeping immunity” encourages bad behaviour
- But the chief executives say they need the law to be able to moderate content
- Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter’s Jack Dorsey, and Google’s Sundar Pichai were summoned before the Senate after both Democrats and Republicans agreed to call them in for questioning
Covid pressure on health visitors puts generation of babies at risk, charities say
- A generation of babies born during the Covid-19 pandemic may be at risk because they and their parents are not being fully supported by health visitors in the weeks and months after birth, a coalition of children’s charities has said
- The NSPCC and nine other early-years charities say restrictions to the service and redeployment of health visitors could mean thousands of families do not receive checks they are entitled to
- Only one in 10 parents with children under the age of two saw a health visitor face to face during the lockdown, according to a study published in August
- Health visitors support new parents and infants from birth until the child is two, advising on feeding and growth, sleeping, vaccinations, and development. Their role enables them to identify parents who may need mental health support
Covid-19 leaves 500 Scout g=Groups ‘at risk of closure’
- More than 500 Scout groups could close and others face a “bleak” future with coronavirus hampering fundraising, the Scout Association has said
- Groups in some of the poorest areas of England were hit when social distancing ended jumble sales, quizzes, and car washes, the organisation said
- But a new fundraising campaign aims to try to save those most at risk, with a virtual race around the world
- Chief Scout Bear Grylls said Scouting was needed now more than ever
- More than 7,000 groups have so far joined the fundraising event, which challenges Scouts to travel 172,000 miles collectively in their local areas
