CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified to the US Congress on Wednesday for his second day of grilling by lawmakers following a string of scandals for the company.
And yet, Zuckerberg admitted he had not been able to stop his own data from being collected by Cambridge Analytica. Each of the committee's members had four minutes to take a swing at the piñata that is Facebook's CEO, and a majority used their time to ask questions focused on the same topics the Senate covered yesterday. Following suit, Zuckerberg didn't seem to know much about regulative policy for tech industries either.
Rep. Kathy Castor pressed Zuckerberg hard on whether and how Facebook tracks users after they are off the platform. Rep.
Introduced by the European Union, GDPR or General Data Protection Regulation requires that the company's request for user consent in a clear and concise way, using language that is understandable, and be clearly distinguishable from other pieces of information, including terms and conditions. He was also asked how Facebook stores data about which websites people visit, and whether it creates so-called "shadow profiles" - accounts for people who either have not created Facebook accounts yet, or gotten rid of them.
Zuckerberg has taken questions on a range of issues, from fake news and terrorist content to Russian propaganda and data privacy, as USA lawmakers consider possible regulatory remedies.
In addition, Representative Frank Pallone pushed Zuckerberg to commit to changing Facbeook's default user settings to minimise data collection "to the greatest extent possible".
Yet before 2014, Facebook didn't offer some of the estimated 87 million victims, whose shared data could have include private messages, the courtesy of refusal.
As for the federal Russian Federation probe that has occupied much of Washington's attention for months, he said he had not been interviewed by special counsel Mueller's team, but "I know we're working with them".
"It's practically impossible these days to remain untracked in America, for all the good Facebook and the internet has brought", Castor concluded.
Zuckerberg has said Facebook will ensure that its platform is not misused to influence elections in India and elsewhere.
Mr Zuckerberg also revealed that Facebook is cooperating with the United States special prosecutor investigating Russian interference in the 2016 vote. "I started Facebook, I run it, and at the end of the day I'm responsible for what happens here".
Facebook has been consumed by turmoil for almost a month, since it came to light that millions of users' personal information was wrongly harvested from the website by Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy that has counted U.S. President Donald Trump's election campaign among its clients. Facebook stock ended Tuesday up 4.5%, and ticked up another 1.5% in trading Wednesday.
To which Zuckerberg replied, "Yes".
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley, told Zuckerberg on Tuesday he saw the Cambridge Analytica situation as "clearly a breach of consumer trust".
The social media company, he said, is not aware of any specific groups like that, that have engaged in the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville previous year. You want to know what Nordstrom sees so that specific jumpsuit just keeps popping up on your newsfeed?
Commentators have suggested Facebook could collect less personal data on things such as what people read online, or could open up its advertising systems to public scrutiny, but at a cost to both its profits and commercial secrecy.
That disclosure pitched Facebook into a crisis of confidence among users, advertisers, employees and investors who were already struggling with Facebook's reaction to fake news and its role in the 2016 election.
14 February 2017
13 April 2018
