Congress Grills Facebook CEO Over ‘Shadow Profiles’

Zuckerberg, who testified before the Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees for roughly five hours Tuesday, is appearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee Wednesday, and is facing numerous same questions about alleged Russian election interference, the data breach, and the mechanics of the social media platform he first launched as a student at Harvard. They don’t want their information getting out.

Mr. Zuckerberg explained that when thinking about regulations, government officials need to differentiate between internet companies like his and broadband providers, the companies that build and run the “pipes” that carry internet traffic, like AT&T and Comcast.

Though no members of the London-based company appeared before Congress, Cambridge Analytica advocated for itself online as Zuckerberg testified on Tuesday, denying any wrongdoing.

“I feel like it’s just part of my life now”, she said.

It also faults his stances that further legislation governing Facebook’s use of data is unnecessary.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which comes into force on May 25, gives web users much greater control over how their personal information is stored and used, with big fines for companies that break the rules. The CEO did not directly endorse any new regulations on social media platforms like Facebook, nor did he outright agree to support the “BROWSER Act“, which would provide more controls to users over their digital privacy.

Following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, many have criticized the CEO for “spying” on people, as one congresswoman put it, and non-consensually using their information for the benefit of the growth of the company. But when asked if his data had been improperly used he replied: “Yes”.

The Facebook executive’s comments came after Blackburn asked Zuckerberg if he believes Facebook “subjectively manipulate [s]” its algorithms “to prioritize or censor speech”. He said any developer found to be misusing data would be banned. Data collectors or processors would incur these fines if they do not do enough to protect user data, obtain “sufficient customer consent”, or violate any of the other regulatory requirements.

The performance had favourable results.

Zuckerberg talked about the same thing when Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) asked about what’s in Facebook’s terms of service on Wednesday and when on Tuesday Sen.

Zuckerberg clarified on multiple occasions that the company doesn’t sell users’ data. He did not name specific companies. “But this is an area where I think society’s sensibilities are also shifting quickly”.

Many Democrats disagreed, saying their Republican colleagues held no genuine interest in having a meaningful debate that could lead to a regulatory overhaul of how technology firms handle data.

If your information was shared (you or your friend might have logged into the app), the message will read that your public profile, page likes, birthday, and current city were likely shared.