Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg statement that the data breach does not have “any meaningful impact” should be seen within the context of the scores of investigation this scandal has kicked off including by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, investigations into the incident and its impact by 37 U.S. state attorneys general as well as by Britain’s Information Commissioner’s Office.
In a damaging disclosure, Facebook Inc stated that the personal information of up to 87 million users, up from 50 million, mostly from the United States, may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica.
During a conference call with reporters, Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg stated that Facebook had not seen “any meaningful impact” on its usage or ad sales since the eruption of the scandal; he was quick to add that “it’s not good” if people are unhappy with Facebook,
Zuckerberg has accepted the blame for the huge data leak which has angered lawmakers, users and advertisers. Despite taking responsibility for the massive data leak, he said he is still the right person to lead the company he founded.
“When you’re building something like Facebook that is unprecedented in the world, there are going to be things that you mess up,” said Zuckerberg who emphasized that it was important to learn from mistakes.
It would be challenging for other directors to oust him from Facebook since he has a controlling share in the company.
Zuckerberg also stated, he has not fired anyone over scandal and does not plan to do so.
“I’m not looking to throw anyone else under the bus for mistakes that we made here,” said Zuckerberg.
London-based Cambridge Analytica, which counted U.S. President Donald Trump, among its clients for his 2016 U.S. Presidential election, has disputed Facebook’s estimate of affected users. In a tweet, it said it has received no more than 30 million records from a researcher it hired to collect data about people on Facebook.
“Knowing what I know today, clearly we should have done more,” said Zuckerberg while refering to the necessity for more audits in the firm.
Going forward, Zuckerberg said Facebook was taking steps to restrict access to personal data to third-party app developers, however, this might take up to two years.
“We’re broadening our view of our responsibility,” said Zuckerberg.
Shares of Facebook have dropped by more than 16% since the Cambridge Analytica scandal surfaced.
The scandal has kicked off an investigation by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and by nearly 37 U.S. state attorneys general as well as by Britain’s Information Commissioner’s Office.
