87m people affected by data breach: Facebook
AFP
Facebook said Wednesday the personal data of up to 87 million users was improperly shared with British political consultancy Cambridge Analytica, as Mark Zuckerberg defended his leadership at the huge social network, reports AFP from London. Facebooks estimate was far higher than news reports suggesting 50 million users may have been affected in the privacy scandal which has roiled the company and sparked questions for the entire internet sector on data protection.
Zuckerberg told reporters on a conference call he accepted responsibility for the failure to protect user data but maintained that he was still the best person to lead the network of two billion users.
I think life is about learning from the mistakes and figuring out how to move forward, he said in response to a question on his ability to lead the company.
When youre building something like Facebook which is unprecedented in the world, there are things that youre going to mess up... What I think people should hold us accountable for is if we are learning from our mistakes.
Zuckerberg said 87 million was a high estimate of those affected by the breach, based on the maximum number of connections to users who downloaded an academic researchers quiz that scooped up personal profiles.
Im quite confident it will not be more than 87 million, it could well be less, he said.
To remedy the problem, Zuckerberg said Facebook must rethink our relationship with people across everything we do and that it will take a number of years to regain user trust.
The new estimate came as Facebook unveiled clearer terms of service to enable users to better understand data sharing, and as a congressional panel said Zuckerberg would appear next week to address privacy issues. Facebook has been
scrambling for weeks in the face of the disclosures on hijacking of private data by the consulting group working for Donald Trumps 2016 campaign.
Earlier Wednesday, the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee announced what appeared to be the first congressional appearance by Zuckerberg since the scandal broke.
The April 11 hearing will be an important opportunity to shed light on critical consumer data privacy issues and help all Americans better understand what happens to their personal information online, said the committees Republican chairman Greg Walden and ranking Democrat Frank Pallone in a statement.
The Facebook co-founder is also invited to other hearings amid a broad probe on both sides of the Atlantic.
Zuckerberg told the conference call he was committed to ensuring that Facebook and its partners do a better job of protecting user data, and that it must take a more serious approach after years of being idealistic about how the platform is used.
We didnt take a broad enough view on what our responsibility is, and that was a huge mistake. It was my mistake.
He said that while there are billions of people who love the service, there is also a potential for abuse and manipulation.
Its not enough just to give people a voice, he said. We have to make sure people dont use that voice to hurt people or spread disinformation. Late Tuesday, Facebook said it deleted dozens of accounts linked to a Russian-sponsored internet unit which has been accused of spreading propaganda and other divisive content in the United States and elsewhere.
The social networking giant said it revoked the accounts of 70 Facebook and 65 Instagram accounts, and removed 138 Facebook pages controlled by the Russia-based Internet Research Agency (IRA).
The agency has been called a troll farm due to its deceptive post aimed at sowing discord and propagating misinformation.
The unit has repeatedly used complex networks of inauthentic accounts to deceive and manipulate people who use Facebook, including before, during and after the 2016 US presidential elections, said a statement Facebook chief security officer Alex Stamos.
