Facebook runs UK, US newspaper ads apologizing for data scandal
Facebook runs UK, US newspaper ads apologising for data
scandal
AFP • March 24, 2018
London (AFP) - Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg took out
full-page ads in nine major British and US newspapers on Sunday to apologise
for a huge data privacy scandal.
"We have a responsibility to protect your
information. If we can't we don't deserve it," he said.
The ads ran in prominent positions in six British
nationals, including the best-selling Mail on Sunday, The Sunday Times and The
Observer -- which helped break the story -- as well as the New York Times,
Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.
Zuckerberg explained there was a quiz developed by a
university researcher "that leaked Facebook data of millions of people in
2014".
"This was a breach of trust, and I'm sorry we didn't
do more at the time. We're now taking steps to make sure this doesn't happen
again," he said.
The ad reflects public statements Zuckerberg made last
week after the row prompted investigations in Europe and the United States, and
sent Facebook's share price plunging.
He repeated that the social media giant had changed the
rules on apps so no such data breach could happen again.
"We're also investigating every single app that had
access to large amounts of data before we fixed this. We expect there are
others," he wrote.
"And when we find them, we will ban them and tell
everyone affected."
There was no mention of the British firm accused of using
the data, Cambridge Analytica, which worked on US President Donald Trump's 2016
campaign.
It too has blamed the University of Cambridge researcher
Alexsandr Kogan, for any potential breach of data rules
Kogan created a lifestyle quiz app for Facebook which was
downloaded by 270,000 people, but allowed access to tens of millions of their
contacts.
Facebook says he passed this to Cambridge Analytica
without its knowledge. Kogan says he is being made a scapegoat.
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