The Spanish Data Protection Agency (AGPD) said in a tweet on Thursday that it had launched an investigation into the misuse of Facebook users' personal information by the Cambridge Analytica consultancy firm.

Axar.az reports quoting Sputnik.

"The Spanish Data Protection Agency has opened an investigation against Facebook in order to examine the possible harm caused to the Spanish users," AGPD stated.

The probe is connected with a personal data breach scandal, Facebook has recently become embroiled in. In late March, media reported that the personal information of about 50 million Facebook users had been harvested by Cambridge Analytica without their consent. While reportedly working for multiple political campaigns, the firm gathered data from these millions of social media accounts to develop a mechanism that would predict and influence the behavior of voters.

On April 4, the company said that the personal data breach might have affected about 87 million Facebook users, while the Cambridge Analytica argued that under the contract it had access to the personal data of no more than 30 million people.

The Cambridge Analytica received the personal information from Aleksandr Kogan, a Cambridge University psychologist, who harvested the data through a special app called "thisisyourdigitallife."

According to Facebook estimates, the Spanish users have downloaded the app 44 times, which might have provided access to the personal data of 136,985 Facebook users.