Facebook is having to face the music both in the United States and the United Kingdom after The New York Times and The Observer of London revealed Cambridge Analytica received and employed data harvested from 50 million of the social network's users without their permission.
The Federal Trade Commission is launching an investigation.
NYT:
The F.T.C. investigation is connected to a settlement the agency reached with Facebook in 2011. The agency had accused the company of deceiving customers “by telling them they could keep their information on Facebook private, and then repeatedly allowing it to be shared and made public,” according to a statement at the time.
Among several violations, the F.T.C. found that Facebook told users that third-party apps on the social media site, like games, would not be allowed to access data. But the apps, the agency found, were able to obtain almost all personal information about a user.
The FTC probe is only part of Facebook's new problems.
NYT:
The scrutiny of the company now extends from state capitals to Europe. Attorneys general in Massachusetts and New York are investigating Facebook’s handling of personal data, and the British Parliament has called for a hearing with Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s chief executive. Several senators have also called for him to appear in Washington.
Adding to concerns about the company is the impending departure of Alex Stamos, Facebook’s chief security officer. That change, reported Monday by The New York Times, reflects heightened leadership tension at the company.
The buildup of news has already hurt Facebook’s stock. The company’s shares were down more than 5 percent in midday trading on Tuesday, after falling sharply on Monday as well.
Facebook has also handed over information on the breach to Congress and the special counsel investigating Russian interference in the election, after it was discovered that the firm had met with Russian executives in the lead-up to the election.
Lawmakers on both sides of the Atlantic want Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to testify in person.
Damian Collins, chair of the influential Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (DCMS), said the social media giant had previously given “misleading” evidence to Parliament and “consistently understated the risk” of user data being used without their consent.
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“It is now time to hear from a senior Facebook executive with the sufficient authority to give an accurate account of this catastrophic failure of process.
“There is a strong public interest test regarding user protection. Accordingly we are sure you will understand the need for a representative from right at the top of the organisation to address concerns.
“Given your commitment at the start of the New Year to ‘fixing’ Facebook, I hope that this representative will be you.”
WaPo:
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) said his panel is sending requests to Facebook and the parent company of Cambridge Analytica, the Trump-linked data firm, to find out more about how the campaign outfit got such sprawling access to user information.
And a bipartisan pair from the Senate Judiciary Committee, John Kennedy (R-La.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), called for their panel to take a fresh look at how Facebook, Google and Twitter are using personal data to sell advertising, and the impact of that business on “the integrity of American elections as well as privacy rights.” They called for tech chiefs to testify, including Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg.
Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA) says it's time for Zuckerberg to turn up in person too.
For now, the company is sending lower-level staffers to brief a half-dozen congressional committees about how data on more than 50 million users ended up in the hands of Cambridge during the 2016 campaign.
The Facebook founder did not make an appearance Tuesday during a meeting for employees designed to field questions.
Facebook employees on Tuesday got the opportunity for an internal briefing and question-and-answer session about Facebook’s role with the Trump-aligned data firm Cambridge Analytica. It was the first the company held to brief and reassure employees after, ahead of damaging news reports, Facebook abruptly suspended Cambridge Analytica. The Q&A session was first reported by The Verge.
...[T]he session was conducted by a Facebook attorney, Paul Grewal, according to a source familiar with the meeting. That was the same approach the company used on Capitol Hill this past fall, when it sent its top attorney, Colin Stretch, to brief Congress about the prevalence of Russian propaganda, to include paid ads and inauthentic accounts, on its platform.
Nor, The Daily Beast has learned, did chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg attend the internal town hall.
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Under mounting pressure, Facebook announced Monday that it has hired auditors to determine if the Facebook data collected by Cambridge Analytica has in fact been purged. “If this data still exists, it would be a grave violation of Facebook’s policies and an unacceptable violation of trust and the commitments these groups made,” it announced in a blog post Monday.
On Monday night in the U.K., Facebook auditors had to be asked to leave Cambridge Analytica's offices.
Fears have also been raised that the investigation may have been compromised by the presence of cybersecurity consultants from Stroz Friedberg—the company hired by Facebook to audit Cambridge Analytica on its behalf—who were in the London offices on Monday evening, until they were asked to leave by the information commissioner.
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British Parliament Culture Committee Chairman Damian Collins said: “This is a matter for the authorities. Facebook sent in data analysts and lawyers who they appointed. What they intended to do there, who knows? The concern would have been, were they removing information or evidence which could have been vital to the investigation? It’s right they stood down but it’s astonishing they were there in the first place.”
Whistleblower Christopher Wylie has agreed to meet with U.S. lawmakers, accepting an invitation from House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Adam Schiff (D-CA). Republicans on the committee have closed their Russia investigation, but Democrats say they will continue to do what they can to get to the truth.
Last year, the House Intelligence Committee spoke with Wylie’s former boss Alexander Nix — the chief executive of Cambridge Analytica — by videoconference, as Nix is located in London.
Schiff stressed in his invitation to Wylie that his accounts of Cambridge Analytica’s data operations “raise serious questions about the veracity of the testimony” Nix gave to the committee.
The details of Wylie’s planned interview with the committee have not yet been worked out, although Wylie has apparently shown some willingness to travel from London, where he is based, to Washington to speak with members, according to a person familiar with discussions.
The Facebook data breach has resonated with government officials as far away as Australia.
The Privacy Commissioner's office has asked Facebook if the data of any Australians was acquired and used without authorisation to build profiles that political parties could use to target voters.
The Commissioner said any penalties would range from regulatory action to court-imposed penalties.
Facebook Draws Scrutiny From FTC, Congressional Committees (Bloomberg Politics)
F.T.C. Investigating Facebook in Use of Personal Data by Firm Tied to Trump (NYT)
Dem Sen demands answers from Zuckerberg over Facebook Cambridge scandal (The Hill)
UK Parliament summons Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg to be questioned over Cambridge Analytica scandal (The Independent)
The Finance 202: Facebook's stock faces wild ride after Cambridge Analytica outrage (WaPo)
‘Astonishing’ Facebook Intervention Could Have Compromised Cambridge Analytica Evidence, Says U.K. (The Daily Beast)
Exclusive: Mark Zuckerberg AWOL From Facebook’s Data Leak Damage Control Session (The Daily Beast)
Cambridge Analytica whistleblower to testify to House Democrats on Facebook data operation (WaPo)
Congress to Facebook: Send us Zuckerberg (Politico)