Australia's information and privacy commissioner has launched legal action against Facebook over the Cambridge Analytica scandal, accusing the social media giant of "serious and/or repeated interferences" with user privacy in breach of the law.

The Federal Court action follows a lengthy investigation into the 2018 scandal, which affected tens of millions of users globally. The breach compromised the personal information of more than 300,000 Australians, according to information commissioner Angelene Falk.

The commissioner has alleged the personal data of Facebook users was disclosed for purposes other than those for which it was collected. Credit:Bloomberg

The commissioner has alleged the personal data of Facebook users was disclosed for purposes other than those for which it was collected — a breach of Australia's Privacy Act.

In a statement, Ms Falk said 311,127 Australian users of the platform had their data "exposed to be sold and used for purposes including political profiling, well outside users' expectations".