Privacy issues emerge as major business risk for Facebook

A 3D-printed Facebook dislike button is seen in front the Facebook logo, in this illustration taken October 25, 2017. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

SAN FRANCISCO/ FRANKFURT: Facebook faces substantial business risks from new European Union privacy rules set to take effect in May, a looming reality that came into stark relief over the weekend with revelations that a controversial political consulting firm had improperly obtained personal data on 50 million Facebook users.

Privacy experts said the disclosure that a researcher had sold Facebook data collected via a personality quiz to the consulting firm Cambridge Analytica is a prime example of the kinds of practices that the new General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, is supposed to prevent or punish.