Mark Zuckerberg speaks on Cambridge Analytica data controversy: 'We made mistakes'
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Version 1 of 4. 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. Limits on data collection imposed since around 300,000 people downloaded Mr Kogan’s app would bar apps from “being able to access so much data today”, Mr Zuckerberg wrote, noting that apps can no longer draw in data from a person’s friends unless they have also consented. Cambridge Analytica was reportedly able to vacuum up data covering some 50 million people because Mr Kogan’s app swept in information from their friend networks. Saying “there’s more we need to do”, Mr Zuckerberg pledged to investigate apps that were privy to large amounts of information before those new limits were imposed in 2014 and ban developers who refuse to be audited. He also announced Facebook planned to restrict data access with new guidelines that include sealing off user data if people have not used an app in three months and limiting the data shared when a person signs in to her name, profile photo and email address. The hotly anticipated statement came amid intensifying criticism and public pressure, with UK Prime Minister Theresa May questioning the company’s safeguards and a prominent technology executive urging people to abandon the site. Calling allegations that Facebook user data was misused “very concerning”, Ms May told MPs in the House of Commons that “People need to have confidence in how their personal data is used”. Ms May said she expected the company to “fully comply” with authorities investigating the controversy. Earlier this week, auditors retained by Facebook who were at Cambridge Analytica’s London offices stood down at the request of the UK Information Commissioner’s Office, which was seeking a warrant to examine the company’s data. Members of Congress and Parliament have called on Mr Zuckerberg to testify in Washington and London. Paralleling the political fallout, signs also emerged of a consumer uprising goaded by players within the technology industry itself. A founder of WhatsApp, a messaging service that was bought by Facebook in 2014, took to Twitter to urge his more than 30,000 followers to stop using Facebook. “It is time”, Brian Acton wrote, appending a #deletefacebook hashtag that proliferated across the platform. Adding to the potential repercussions for Facebook, multiple people filed proposed class action lawsuits. A shareholder lawsuit accused Facebook of harming investors by concealing information about the data transfer, noting that the company’s stock value has plunged, and a complaint filed by a user in Maryland accused Facebook of acting with “absolute disregard” for personal information and failing to halt “improper data aggregation”. |