Italy's privacy watchdog fines Facebook 1 million euros

ROME:  Italy's privacy watchdog says it has fined Facebook 1 million euros ($1.13 million) over the Cambridge Analytica data scandal.

The government agency said in a statement Friday that it had determined that 57 Italians had downloaded the thisisyourdigitallife app through a Facebook login, and as a result, the app acquired data of nearly 215,000 Italian users.

But the privacy watchdog said that no data was actually transmitted to Cambridge Analytica, a now defunct political consulting and data mining firm.

Facebook said in a statement that it is focusing on protecting people's privacy, will review the watchdog agency's decision and will "continue to engage constructively with their concerns."

Britain's data protection watchdog concluded that Cambridge Analytica improperly harvested Facebook data to aid Donald Trump's successful 2016 presidential campaign.