Facebook knows too much about you
Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, has a busy schedule this week with plans to testify before the Senate on Tuesday and Congress on Wednesday. Facebook was recently caught in a privacy war with a political firm called Cambridge Analytica. This firm was said to be hired by the Trump campaign to acquire access to private data on millions of Facebook users. The idea was that Cambridge Analytica offered tools that could identify the personalities of American voters and hopefully influence their behavior. Ironically enough, the firm was funded by Robert Mercer, the wealthy Republican donor, and Stephen K. Bannon, a former adviser to the president who became an early board member. The data obtained included details on users' identities and who your friends like or what they like.
Zuckerberg released a report ahead of his testimony to the Senate and Congress that explains Facebook is an optimistic organization, focusing on connecting people and giving them a voice. But Zuckerberg also admits that the idealist train of thought might have blinded the company to potential misuses of Facebook’s toolset.
Community backlash
The community has not taken this lightly. Among those who revolted Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, said he is 'disgusted' with Facebook and deactivated his account. When a reporter asked Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, what he would do if he were in Mark Zuckerberg's position he responded "I wouldn't be in this position" criticizing Mark for selling user data to make money.
Snippet from the report...
Mark Zuckerberg:
But it’s clear now that we didn’t do enough to prevent these tools from being used for harm as well. That goes for fake news, foreign interference in elections, and hate speech, as well as developers and data privacy. We didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake. It was my mistake, and I’m sorry. I started Facebook, I run it, and I’m responsible for what happens here.
Highlight Video from Tuesday's Hearing
