Facebook's Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer revealed online Wednesday a considerable jump in the number of users impacted by Cambridge Analytica's acquisition of illegally harvested data.
The news appeared at the bottom of a post about upgrades to data protection protocol.
In total, we believe the Facebook information of up to 87 million people — mostly in the US — may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica.
According to Facebook's own chart, "mostly" means more than 81 percent.
NYT:
Cambridge Analytica responded to Facebook’s revised estimate with a statement in which the firm said it had licensed data for no more than 30 million users of the social network, that none of the data had been used in the firm’s work on the 2016 election and that it believed at the time that the data had been legally obtained.
(...)
[Facebook] is under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission over whether it violated a 2011 agreement meant to protect users’ privacy. Investors have been fleeing the company as well, with its stock falling sharply in recent weeks.
Earlier on Wednesday, lawmakers in Washington said that Mr. Zuckerberg would testify before the House Energy and Committee on April 11 about the company’s handling of sensitive user data.
WaPo:
In Congress, Zuckerberg has faced demands that he testify before two other committees: the Senate Commerce Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee.
NYT:
Facebook’s problems stretch back before the reports about Cambridge Analytica, to earlier investigations into how Russian actors infiltrated the platform by placing ads and posts to disrupt the 2016 election. At the time, Mr. Zuckerberg dismissed the idea of foreign interference on Facebook as a “crazy idea.”
Since then, the company has been the focus of investigations by law enforcement and congressional committees that are delving into Russian interference in the election. Facebook now acknowledges that its platform was used by agents to influence voters.
In a call with reporters Wednesday, Zuckerberg acknowledged he made a “huge mistake” in failing to take a broad enough view of what Facebook’s responsibility is in the world. He said it isn’t enough for Facebook to believe app developers when they say they follow the rules. He says Facebook has to ensure they do.
The New York Times has posted a summary of its coverage of the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal, starting when it broke the story with The Observer of London and The Guardian last month.
Facebook Says Cambridge Analytica Harvested Data of Up to 87 Million Users (NYT)
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify to Congress next week about Cambridge Analytica (WaPo)
Facebook scandal affected more users than thought: up to 87M (AP)
An Update on Our Plans to Restrict Data Access on Facebook (Facebook)
Cambridge Analytica and Facebook: The Scandal and the Fallout So Far (NYT)