Mark Zuckerberg speaks on Cambridge Analytica data controversy: 'We made mistakes'

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/mark-zuckerberg-statement-response-cambridge-analytica-a8267551.html

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has broken his silence about a data misuse scandal that has engulfed his company, saying the site “made mistakes”.

“We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can't then we don't deserve to serve you”, Mr Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post. “I’ve been working to understand exactly what happened and how to make sure this doesn't happen again”.

It marked the second time in recent months Mr Zuckerberg has publicly pledged to “fix” the social media juggernaut - at the year's outset referencing abuse and exploitation by Russian-linked actors, and now in response to alarm over consumer data privacy.

For days, Mr Zuckerberg has faced rising pressure to account for how political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica obtained data on millions of users and then put that information to use for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign seeking to finely target and sway voters.

While Facebook has said the fault lies with researcher Aleksandr Kogan for passing data to Cambridge Analytica and with the since-suspended firm for misleading Facebook about deleting the information, those reassurances that no breach occurred have done little to quell a mounting outcry.

With officials in Europe, America and the UK demanding to hear from Mr Zuckerberg, the CEO finally weighed in publicly.

In his post, Mr Zuckerberg said he learned of Cambridge Analytica’s alleged violations from reporters seeking to unravel the story. He said that Facebook became aware Mr Kogan had shared information with Cambridge Analytica in 2015.

“It is against our policies for developers to share data without people's consent, so we immediately banned Kogan's app from our platform, and demanded that Kogan and Cambridge Analytica formally certify that they had deleted all improperly acquired data. They provided these certifications”, Mr Zuckerberg said.

But Facebook learned from this week’s bombshell reports that Cambridge Analytica “may not have deleted the data as they had certified”, Mr Zuckerberg wrote.

“This was a breach of trust between Kogan, Cambridge Analytica and Facebook. But it was also a breach of trust between Facebook and the people who share their data with us and expect us to protect it. We need to fix that”, Mr Zuckerberg said.

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