How to find out if Cambridge Analytica stole your Facebook data
Did Cambridge Analytica steal your Facebook data?
You'll finally be getting an answer to the question that's been at the forefront of your mind since we first caught wind of the scandal in which users' data was being used for a political firm without their knowledge.
From 12 p.m. BST (7 a.m. ET) on Monday, 9 April, Facebook users will start seeing notifications at the top of their News Feeds alerting them if their data was stolen and "misused" by Cambridge Analytica.
Facebook announced last week that users would be receiving one of two notifications, informing them how to see which apps they use, and the data shared with those apps.
App Controls: Finally, starting on Monday, April 9, we’ll show people a link at the top of their News Feed so they can see what apps they use — and the information they have shared with those apps. People will also be able to remove apps that they no longer want. As part of this process we will also tell people if their information may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica.
Users affected by the Cambridge Analytica data breach will see the message pictured below (right) at the top of their News Feed. Those unaffected will see the message pictured below (left).
Facebook estimates that the Facebook data of "up to" 87 million people "may have been improperly shared" with Cambridge Analytica during the U.S. presidential election.
Per Facebook, around 1 million people in the UK could have been affected by the data breach. But, the overwhelming majority of those affected (over 70 million people) are in the U.S.
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Topics Facebook
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
