UK data regulator investigates Facebook over experiment

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) in the UK is said to be investigating whether Facebook broke data protection laws when it allowed researchers to conduct a psychological experiment on users of the social network.

The data regulator is probing the experiment and plans to ask Facebook questions, the Financial Times reported.

It was too early to tell exactly what part of the law Facebook may have infringed, the newspaper quoted a spokesperson for the ICO as saying.

Facebook’s psychological experiment on nearly 700,000 unwitting users has caused a social-media furor. The experiment was to find if Facebook could alter the emotional state of its users, by manipulating their newsfeeds, and prompt them to post either more positive or negative content.

The ICO monitors how personal data is used and has the power to force organizations to change their policies and levy fines of up to £500,000.

Internet privacy concerns shot up the agenda last year when former US National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden revealed details of mass US surveillance programs involving European citizens and some heads of state.

Last week, Google said it has begun removing some search results to comply with a European Union ruling upholding citizens' right to have objectionable personal information about them hidden in search engines.

Reuters