The President of the Personal Data Protection Office (UODO), Jan Nowak, has sent a letter to the Facebook authorities on the leak of personal data of Polish users of the portal; he wants users to be able to check whether they are affected by the leak – informed UODO spokesman Adam Sanocki on Thursday.
It involves the leaked data of 533 million Facebook users worldwide, including more than 2 million users from Poland, which was made public online in April.
As the UODO spokesperson informed, the president of the Office asked Facebook authorities to take measures that would reduce the risk of using the leaked personal data by offering all Polish users the possibility to check whether they are affected by the breach.
In his letter, the President of UODO emphasized that the data leakage from facebook. com poses a huge threat to the privacy of many people. He pointed out that the personal data provided could be used not only for spamming or fraudulent telemarketing but also for criminal purposes. Therefore, as he pointed out, it is important to clarify all the circumstances of the case.
In his comment sent to PAP (Polish Press Agency), Sanocki pointed out that one of the tasks of the UODO is to effectively undertake activities that will translate into better protection of citizens’ personal data.
“The protection of personal data and the protection of privacy are extremely important and are a part of the rights of us all. This type of incident, such as the leakage of portal user data, poses a huge threat. It is important to take action as soon as possible to help minimize their negative effects and prevent them in the future,” pointed out the spokesman of the Personal Data Protection Office (UODO).
“UODO works with other supervisory authorities to ensure consistency in the application of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) across the European Union. The case is being investigated by the Data Protection Commission, the Irish supervisory authority. We are counting on the administrator to allow the actions necessary to clarify this matter,” stated Sanocki.
The Irish Data Protection Authority (DPC) is the EU’s lead body for regulating the personal data of Facebook, as well as Apple and Google, which have their European headquarters in Ireland.