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After Math: This is a witch hunt
It was a dangerous week for some of the biggest names in technology as they they were forced to face off against these new things called "consequences" which have come about due to their ongoing "actions." It's all so very unfair. Ashley Madison is still super duper sorry about the whole exposing of America's least competent infidelitors thing, Reddit is saying "sayonara" to bitcoin (but not its resident racists), and the government of Ecuador went and changed up the Wi-Fi password on poor Julian Assange. But hey, at least Zuck won't be out of a job anytime soon. Numbers, because how else will we know whether she'll sink or float?
Facebook is hosting an online abuse summit with other tech leaders
Facebook is trying to bring all the wars it's fighting under one roof. At the "Fighting Abuse @Scale" conference later next month, the social network will host talks on combating fake news, online fraud, spam and abuse in general. There's a special focus on how the different companies in attendance are using AI and machine learning to achieve their goals.
Report: Cambridge Analytica hasn't deleted all of its collected data
According to Cambridge Analytica, it already deleted the Facebook data it collected from 50 million users years ago -- it even announced that it's undertaking a third-party audit to verify that claim. Based on a new report by UK broadcaster Channel 4, though, that might not be true at all. The broadcaster says it has discovered a cache of the data CA harvested, and it contains information on 136,000 individuals from Colorado, including their personality results and psychological profiles created from the info the firm collected.
Facebook reportedly tweaks data storage on upcoming video chat device
Facebook has been working on a smart home device called Portal -- a video chat gadget powered by facial recognition that could reportedly suggest a call when two users are both near their respective devices. In January, reports surfaced that Portal might launch this year, but yesterday, Bloomberg reported that Facebook won't be unveiling its home products at its F8 developer conference in May as was initially planned. The pullback is attributed to the ongoing Cambridge Analytica controversy and growing concerns over how Facebook handles its users' data. Now, The Information reports that the company is also considering alternative privacy safeguards among its smart home devices.
Facebook is making it easier to delete your data
In the wake of Cambridge Analytica, Facebook is reminding folks to check on their privacy settings for the social network. "Last week showed how much more work we need to do to enforce out policies and help people understand how Facebook works and the choices they have over the data," a blog post reads. "We've heard loud and clear that privacy settings and other important tools are too hard to find and that we must do more to keep people informed." Cambridge Analytica isn't mentioned by name once in the post.
Zuckerberg declines invite to UK committee hearing on data privacy
Despite being asked, Mark Zuckerberg won't attend a British parliamentary hearing about Cambridge Analytica's data use. In a statement to Damian Collins, chair of Digital Culture Media and Sport Committee, Facebook's head of public policy for the UK Rebecca Stimson outlined all the ways Facebook would change its course of action (like telling people if their data was misused). Essentially, it was a rehash of Zuckerberg's statement from last week. What Stimson didn't do though, was promise Zuckerberg would arrive as requested, instead listing possible deputies that may be sent to the hearings in his place.
Senate committee asks Facebook, Google and Twitter to testify on privacy
The list of people that want to hear from social media giants in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal keeps getting longer. Senator Ron Wyden wants to know how the data collection happened in the first place, and Facebook talked to Congressional staffers last week. The FTC is investigating the whole debacle, as well. Mark Zuckerberg is predictably sorry. Now the Senate Judiciary Committee has invited the CEOs of Facebook, Google and Twitter to testify on April 10th over data privacy procedures.
Cambridge Analytica accused of violating US election laws
Cambridge Analytica's Facebook data harvesting hasn't just prompted lawsuits over the privacy violations -- it's now sparking a legal battle over its role in US elections. ABC News has learned that watchdog group Common Cause has filed complaints with the Federal Election Commission and Justice Department alleging that Cambridge Analytica broke federal election laws barring foreigners from participating in the strategies of US political campaigns. According to Common Cause, the UK firm ignored warnings to avoid involvement in American political committees and provided its Facebook user data to help target campaign efforts that included the presidential runs of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz as well as a John Bolton super PAC.
FTC confirms Facebook data security investigation
Last week, reports surfaced that the FTC was opening an investigation into Facebook regarding Cambridge Analytica's use of its data. The agency has now confirmed that it is indeed investigating the social media giant. "The FTC takes very seriously recent press reports raising substantial concerns about the privacy practices of Facebook," the FTC said in a statement. "Today, the FTC is confirming that it has an open non-public investigation into these practices."
Facebook apologizes for privacy breach with full-page newspaper ads
Facebook isn't just relying on TV appearances to apologize for its poor handling of Cambridge Analytica's data sharing. The social network took out full-page apology ads in several major US and UK Sunday newspapers, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Times. In each case, the ad included a missive from Mark Zuckerberg, who said he was "sorry" Facebook didn't "do more" when it learned that Cambridge Analytica had harvested data on more than 50 million people without their permission.
Apple's Tim Cook calls for tougher regulation of personal data
Apple has long positioned itself as a privacy advocate, but it's ramping up that stance in light of Facebook's data sharing with Cambridge Analytica. In a discussion at the China Development Forum, Tim Cook said that tougher, "well-crafted" regulation of personal data is likely "necessary" in the wake of Facebook's crisis. The ability to learn "every intimate detail of your life" through your internet history and contacts "shouldn't exist," Cook said.
Facebook and Cambridge Analytica hit with first state lawsuit
Facebook and Cambridge Analytica are already dealing with numerous private lawsuits over non-consensual data sharing, but they now have to grapple with a state-level lawsuit. Illinois' Cook County has filed a lawsuit against both companies accusing them of violating the state's Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Cambridge Analytica allegedly broke the law by misrepresenting its "thisisyourdigitallife" app as an academic research tool when it was really meant to harvest personal data against Facebook's agreements. Facebook, meanwhile, was accused of falsely promising to protect user data and doing nothing to stop Cambridge Analytica for years after learning of its behavior.
Let’s stop pretending Facebook cares
The really great thing to come out of the Cambridge Analytica scandal is that Facebook will now start doing that thing we were previously assured at every turn they were doing all along. And all it took was everyone finding out about the harvesting and sale of everyone's data to right-wing zealots like Steve Bannon for political power. Not Facebook finding out because they already knew. For years. In fact, Facebook knew it so well, the company legally threatened Observer and NYT to prevent their reporting on it, to keep everyone else from finding out.
Cambridge Analytica has commissioned a third-party audit
Mark Zuckerberg might be sorry that 50 million Facebook users' data ended up with the political firm Cambridge Analytica and will (at some point) head to Congress to explain what happened. The firm maintained that it deleted that information when Facebook requested it do so back in 2015, but it's unclear if that actually happened. Now Cambridge Analytica claims it's undertaking a third-party audit to verify that the data is gone.
Facebook already hit with four lawsuits over Cambridge Analytica (updated)
It has been a week since the bombshell reports on Cambridge Analytica's use of Facebook user data dropped and already the social media giant is facing at least four lawsuits. Along with a class action suit filed earlier this week on behalf of Facebook users whose data was obtained by Cambridge Analytica, three shareholders have also filed their own complaints.
Sonos to temporarily pull ads from Facebook, Google and Twitter
Earlier this week, Mozilla announced that it was pulling its Facebook ads in light of the Cambridge Analytica scandal and continued concerns over data security. Now Sonos has announced it will also be pulling ads, but not just from Facebook. For one week, starting on Monday, the company will pull all advertising from Facebook, Instagram, Google and Twitter and will donate the money it would have spent on ads to RightsCon -- an Access Now event that brings together tech companies and activists to discuss digital rights issues.
Mozilla pulled its Facebook ads and others may follow
Facebook is obviously in some very hot water as details regarding Cambridge Analytica's use of its users' data continue to unfold. And along with heated consumer backlash and questions from lawmakers, Facebook may now start to lose advertising money. Yesterday, Mozilla pulled its ads from Facebook, saying in a blog post about the decision that the Cambridge Analytica news "caused us to take a closer look at Facebook's current default privacy settings given that we support the platform with our advertising dollars. While we believe there is still more to learn, we found that its current default settings leave access open to a lot of data -- particularly with respect to settings for third party apps." And because of that, it has chosen to halt advertising on the platform for the time being.
Congress wants Zuckerberg to testify about Cambridge Analytica
Thus far, two states, the FTC, UK Parliament and US Congress all want answers from Facebook regarding how political firm Cambridge Analytica ended up with data on 50 million users. Representatives from the company even met with staffers from House and Senate committees a couple days ago. But now the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee wants to hear from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself, and have officially requested he testify at an upcoming hearing.
Mark Zuckerberg broke his silence, but he didn’t have much to say
As a series of reports exposed Cambridge Analytica's use of improperly obtained personal data, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was nowhere to be seen. The billionaire's self-imposed public exile ended with a fresh media tour that took in stops at CNN, The New York Times and Recode. Zuckerberg showed up to play all of his greatest hits, including the one about how important it is that his company retain your trust. And how the world's largest database of personal data, ostensibly designed to be sold to advertisers, really does care about your privacy.
Facebook gave researcher anonymized data on 57 billion friendships
The Guardian reports today that Cambridge University researcher Aleksandr Kogan's relationship with Facebook wasn't limited to his now infamous "thisisyourdigitallife" app. He had actually also received an additional sizable chunk of data from Facebook that he used for a research paper published in 2015. This dataset, however, differs quite a bit from that collected through Kogan's personality app. While large in volume, this other set was anonymized and aggregated with no personally identifiable information included. As the 2015 research paper states, the data included "every friendship made on Facebook in 2011 in every country in the world at the national aggregate level," which summed up to over 57 billion friendships.
