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Mark Zuckerberg is sorry
Given the news that has broken over the last few days about the collection and use of Facebook data by Cambridge Analytica, there's been an expectation that the company's leaders will speak out and tonight Mark Zuckerberg finally did. Following up on his Facebook post and rollout of some new rules and policy initiatives, the CEO granted a rare on-camera interview with CNN, and also spoke to others like Wired, the New York Times and Recode. In the interviews, the first difference that jumps out is the presence of an actual apology for... something. As Zuckerberg said to Recode, "We let the community down and I feel really bad and I'm sorry about that." A statement that may have more lasting meaning is his response to a CNN question about whether or not Facebook should be regulated. Zuckerberg said "I actually am not sure we shouldn't be regulated," and also referenced how the company's reaction to "bad actors" who try to manipulate elections has changed. While in 2016 it was not as proactive, he pointed out Facebook's use of AI tools during the French election and subsequent events around the world to detect and filter out the use of fake accounts.
Deleting Facebook is easier said than done
Over the past few days, Facebook has come under intense scrutiny due to its previous relationship with Cambridge Analytica, a data-science company that secretly culled information from 50 million Facebook users. This has raised questions not only about the social network's role in the data harvest but also over Facebook's entire business practice of collecting data from its users.
Facebook lays out stricter rules to protect your social data
It's been a few years coming, but today Facebook unveiled its strategy for protecting user data on its platform. The basic gist? The company is going to be more cautious about how data is shared, and be much more transparent with its users. Today's announcement came alongside Mark Zuckerberg's delayed response to reports of Cambridge Analytica's data harvesting strategy, which managed to gather information from 50 million people.
Mark Zuckerberg finally weighs in on Cambridge Analytica
While stories about Cambridge Analytica harvesting data from millions of Facebook accounts without consent sparked conversations and debates over the weekend, one voice was conspicuously absent from the mix: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. That's officially no longer the case, though — Zuckerberg posted a lengthy response to the Cambridge Analytica situation on his personal Facebook page in which he pledged to investigate "all apps that had access to large amounts of information" before Facebook changed its policy in 2014 and more actively control the kind of data access available to developers. "The good news is that the most important actions to prevent this from happening again today we have already taken years ago," he wrote. "But we also made mistakes, there's more to do, and we need to step up and do it."
How Facebook plans to colonize gaming
Facebook is in the middle of a public relations nightmare, caused by reports that research firm Cambridge Analytica used its site to harvest data from 50 million user profiles. But, that's not stopping the company from talking up the potential of its platform, in this case as it pertains to gaming. As part of Facebook's GDC 2018 announcements, it revealed last week that any developer can now make Instant Games, thanks to new tools that let them create HTML5-based web titles for Messenger or the News Feed. Additionally, Facebook has made it easy for devs to build livestreaming features directly into their PC games, without any capture hardware or software required, in a clear attempt to challenge the likes of Twitch and Youtube.
Facebook faces user lawsuit for disclosing data to Cambridge Analytica
State, federal and legislative officials in the US and UK want to know how much personal Facebook data may or may not still be in Cambridge Analytica's hands, but some aren't waiting to hear what they'll find. A user has sued the social media giant on behalf of many other individuals whose information ended up with the political firm, which acquired data on 50 million Facebook users in 2015.
Mark Zuckerberg will address the Cambridge Analytica scandal soon (updated)
Thus far, Facebook leadership has been largely silent about the ongoing Cambridge Analytica scandal -- a fact that's disturbing to many of the service's millions of users. Most troubling is the lack of a statement from CEO Mark Zuckerberg, but that could change soon. Axios and then NBC News have both reported that Zuckerberg will speak publicly about the incident for the first time in the next 24 hours or so, with a focus on "rebuilding trust."
WhatsApp co-founder tweets '#deleteFacebook'
While calls for users to eliminate their presence on Facebook have increased due to reports of how Cambridge Analytica allegedly used the platform, most of them haven't come from anyone walking around with a few billion dollars of Facebook's money. WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton left the company last year, and today simply tweeted "It is time. #deletefacebook."
Cambridge Analytica CEO: 'we ran all the digital campaign' for Trump
At the same time Cambridge Analytica announced it's suspending CEO Alexander Nix, Channel 4 News released a second report on the company based on undercover videos. In this report, it shows executives claiming that their work was responsible for Trump's "narrow victory" by 40,000 votes in three states. Nix said in the video that "We did all the research, all the data, all the analytics, all the targeting, we ran all the digital campaign, the television campaign and our data informed all the strategy." In a quote that may be more relevant due to the ongoing investigations, he also said the company uses "self-destructing email" to avoid leaving any trace of its communications. In his words, the candidate (Trump) is "always" the puppet, told by his campaign team what to do and say, while politicians who asked questions after the fact weren't technical enough to understand what happened.
New York joins Massachusetts investigation of Facebook's data use
All eyes are on Facebook as more and more information rolls out regarding Cambridge Analytica, its involvement in recent elections and forums and how it came to obtain 50 million Facebook users' profile information. Now, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is joining those demanding more information from the social network giant. "Consumers have a right to know how their information is used -- and companies like Facebook have a fundamental responsibility to protect their users' personal information," Schneiderman said in a statement. "Today, along with Massachusetts Attorney General Healey, we sent a demand letter to Facebook -- the first step in our joint investigation to get to the bottom of what happened."
Cambridge Analytica suspends CEO Alexander Nix during investigation (updated)
As the Cambridge Analytica scandal continues to develop, the company has now announced that its board has suspended CEO Alexander Nix. Cambridge Analytica says that the suspension is immediate and a full, independent investigation will be conducted. "In the view of the Board, Mr. Nix's recent comments secretly recorded by Channel 4 and other allegations do not represent the values or operations of the firm and his suspension reflects the seriousness with which we view this violation," the company said in a statement.
Facebook plans to brief Congress on the Cambridge Analytica scandal
Facebook is obviously in some very hot water in regards to Cambridge Analytica's use of its users' data. US Congress, the UK Parliament and even the FTC are looking for answers and Facebook is now agreeing to answer them. A company spokesperson has told us that Facebook representatives will be in Washington DC today and tomorrow meeting with staffers for the House and Senate Intel Committees, the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the Senate Commerce Committee and the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. Bloomberg reports that details on committee briefings are being worked out.
FTC is reportedly investigating Facebook's use of personal data
Former officials have been worried that Facebook's data sharing with Cambridge Analytica may have violated the FTC consent decree, and it looks like existing officials share their concern. Bloomberg sources have claimed that the FTC is probing Facebook to determine whether the social network broke the decree by letting Cambridge Analytica obtain users' data without their express permission. If it did, the FTC could call for fines up to $40,000 per person, although that's unlikely when there are roughly 50 million affected users.
UK wants answers from Zuckerberg regarding Cambridge Analytica
Following reports by The New York Times, The Guardian and The Observer detailing how Cambridge Analytica obtained data on some 50 million Facebook users and used it for targeted social media messaging, the UK Parliament is now looking for some answers. And they want them from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself. As CNBC reports, Damian Collins, chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, sent Zuckerberg a letter today requesting that he appear before the committee to discuss Cambridge Analytica and Facebook's role in its data acquisition.
Facebook plans all-staff meeting on Cambridge Analytica scandal
Facebook is holding an open meeting for all of its employees today, in the fall out of the unfolding Cambridge Analytica data privacy scandal. Taking place at 10am PT, the meeting will be led by Facebook's deputy general counsel Paul Grewal, and will give employees the opportunity to ask questions about the ongoing case, which involves the data harvesting of more than 50 million people.
Making sense of the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica nightmare
Over the weekend, a series of bombshell reports from The New York Times, The Observer and The Guardian told the story of Cambridge Analytica (CA) and how it harvested information from 50 million US Facebook profiles -- mostly without consent. The reports were (and remain) chilling. The idea of a data science company no one has ever heard of attempting to poke around in a country's collective psyche sounds like a plot out of Black Mirror, and yet here we are. More troubling is the idea that the sort of mass-scale psych profiling Cambridge Analytica allegedly carried out was done with a political endgame in mind. The jury is still out on whether its work with data ultimately swayed the result of the 2016 election -- CEO Alexander Nix denies using this kind of data-driven "psychographic" profiling for Donald Trump's presidential campaign -- but by now it's clear that Nix isn't overly concerned with ethics. Let's take a closer look at what you need to know about Cambridge Analytica and the firestorm it ignited.
Cambridge Analytica caught on tape proposing blackmail, propaganda
It has only been a few days since Facebook pulled access from Cambridge Analytica and some of its associates -- for allegedly retaining data on millions of accounts that it pulled in via a "personality" app in 2014 -- but the scrutiny around both companies continues to intensify. Today, UK's Channel 4 aired the results of an undercover investigation that shows Cambridge Analytica representatives -- including CEO Alexander Nix -- talking about how its strategies have worked in more than two hundred elections around the world, saying that employees can be disguised as researchers, and even using sex workers to entrap political opponents. In a statement, Cambridge Analytica said that "Assessing the legality and reputational risks associated with new projects is critical for us, and we routinely undertake conversations with prospective clients to try to tease out any unethical or illegal intentions. The two Cambridge Analytica executives at the meeting humoured these questions and actively encouraged the prospective client to disclose his intentions. They left with grave concerns and did not meet with him again." Said Nix, "In playing along with this line of conversation, and partly to spare our 'client' from embarrassment, we entertained a series of ludicrous hypothetical scenarios. I am aware how this looks, but it is simply not the case. I must emphatically state that Cambridge Analytica does not condone or engage in entrapment, bribes or so-called 'honeytraps', and nor does it use untrue material for any purpose."
Facebook hires digital forensics firm to audit Cambridge Analytica
Days ago, Facebook suspended the parent company of political analysis firm Cambridge Analytica after news broke that it allegedly harvested personal data from some 50 million users. While the social network reportedly tried to sue The Guardian before the publication released the initial news with the help of a whistleblower, Facebook has dialed back its position. Today, the social network announced it has hired digital forensics outfit Stroz Friedberg to audit the political analysis firm.
Congress wants answers from Facebook about Cambridge Analytica
You knew it was just a matter of time before Congress joined those investigating Facebook's data sharing debacle, even if it's only in a tentative way. Oregon Senator Ron Wyden has sent a letter to Mark Zuckerberg asking him to explain how Cambridge Analytica ended up with data on 50 million people, most of them without permission. In addition to details of the incident itself, Wyden wants to know why Facebook didn't drop Cambridge Analytica when it learned of the collection in 2015, whether the data was used for targeted ads and how this could happen despite the FTC decree limiting Facebook's data collection and sharing activities.
Facebook may have broken FTC deal in Cambridge Analytica incident
Facebook may face more legal trouble than you might think in the wake of Cambridge Analytica's large-scale data harvesting. Former US officials David Vladeck and Jessica Rich have told the Washington Post that Facebook's data sharing may violate the FTC consent decree requiring that it both ask for permission before sharing data and report any authorized access. The "Thisisyourdigitallife" app at the heart of the affair asked for permission from those who directly used it, but not the millions of Facebook friends whose data was taken in the process.
