FILE - In this July 6, 2011 file photo, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg smiles during an announcement at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif. A Facebook security flaw, revealed this week, allowed users to gain access to the billionaire businessman's private pictures. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

Facebook was only fined £500,000 in the UK over Cambridge Analytica

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Facebook ultimately got a slap on the wrist for the Cambridge Analytica scandal, with its UK fine limited to a paltry max of £500,000 ($662,000).

Published   |  Photo by AP Photo/Paul Sakuma
FILE - In this July 6, 2011 file photo, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg smiles during an announcement at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif. A Facebook security flaw, revealed this week, allowed users to gain access to the billionaire businessman's private pictures. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)
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That’s spare change for Facebook, which is expected to earn more than $22 billion in profit this year—which comes out to $43,000 every 60 seconds.

FILE - In this July 6, 2011 file photo, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg smiles during an announcement at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif. A Facebook security flaw, revealed this week, allowed users to gain access to the billionaire businessman's private pictures. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)
15 minutes

Yes, the company can recover its UK fee in just 15 minutes.

FILE - In this July 6, 2011 file photo, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg smiles during an announcement at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif. A Facebook security flaw, revealed this week, allowed users to gain access to the billionaire businessman's private pictures. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)
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For comparison, that fine is equivalent to 0.0008% of Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth—or a mere fraction of a cent for every single one of the 87 million users affected.

FILE - In this July 6, 2011 file photo, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg smiles during an announcement at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif. A Facebook security flaw, revealed this week, allowed users to gain access to the billionaire businessman's private pictures. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)
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Mark Zuckerberg’s estimated net worth

FILE - In this July 6, 2011 file photo, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg smiles during an announcement at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif. A Facebook security flaw, revealed this week, allowed users to gain access to the billionaire businessman's private pictures. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)
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But that’s the maximum penalty allowed, a limit set by the UK’s own data privacy watchdog. Facebook could simply give UK lawmakers 20% of its quarterly US lobbying budget instead.

FILE - In this July 6, 2011 file photo, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg smiles during an announcement at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif. A Facebook security flaw, revealed this week, allowed users to gain access to the billionaire businessman's private pictures. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)
15 minutes

Luckily for Facebook, it didn’t run afoul of the EU’s much stricter General Data Protection Regulation. The maximum fine under GDPR would have been 4% of global revenue—or nearly $2 billion.

FILE - In this July 6, 2011 file photo, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg smiles during an announcement at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif. A Facebook security flaw, revealed this week, allowed users to gain access to the billionaire businessman's private pictures. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)
15 minutes

Less than half an hour’s profit can pay Facebook’s UK fine

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