What the Tech: Is Facebook listening to you?

Have you deleted your Facebook account in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal?

The decision came as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared before the US Congress twice in less than 24 hours, apologising for the data breach scandal involving British political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica.

National Privacy Commission will look into how Facebook shares the personal data of Filipino users with unauthorized third parties. CBS News’ Tony Dokoupil watched the Facebook CEO testify Tuesday at San Francisco’s Founders Space where Steve Hoffman helps support start-ups. “So far, we’ve done nothing on Facebook“.

But clearly, their technical expertise leaves much to be desired, that we can’t take their digital literacy for granted (that’s why they have advisors who, one would hope, know a bit more).

Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from SC, questioned Zuckerberg about Facebook’s power more broadly: Is the social network a monopoly? An accurate profile can reveal details, like our sexual orientation, that we never made a decision to disclose in the first place. Some of the features require more personal info than others; pictures, once posted, can potentially remain in the enormous cloud of internet data forever.

With profiling questions coming to the fore lately, Fraser took the opportunity a couple of weeks ago to download his Facebook data.

Exactly how many fake accounts Facebook has shut down.

John Shimkus, a Republican from IL, asked Zuckerberg whether users are tracked when they are logged out of Facebook.

“I don’t see a reason for businesses to pull back now”.

The email, from Facebook public policy manager Neil Potts, acknowledged that the company did not adequately communicate the new guidelines to Diamond and Silk and said that restrictions on their page would be lifted to allow them to apply to monetize their content. Apparently, the pair had their content flagged by Facebook for being “unsafe”. Cambridge Analytica then obtained the data and was said to have used it to try to influence elections around the world. The social media network also confirmed that the consolidated app controls would roll out for all users immediately.

Whatever you put online will stay there, whether you like it or not.

“Contrary to Mr. Zuckerberg’s assertion, Facebook is a virtual monopoly and monopolies need to be regulated“, Graham said after the hearing.

Yesterday Facebook shares dipped, but are still up three percent overall since Zuckerberg began his testimony on Capitol Hill.

A big part of the Facebook privacy issue is that privacy means different things to different people, Fraser said.

The short answer is there really is none.

House lawmakers were a bit tougher on Zuckerberg than their colleagues in the Senate, many of whom seemed confused by the company and what it does.

Amid rising calls for legislation to better protect the data that social media and other Internet companies siphon off from users, Zuckerberg said he accepted that legal restrictions of some sort were in the cards – while adding a word of caution.