Facebook in damage control mode as more concerns raised
Facebook officials will travel, or make phone calls, to Europe to respond to concerns the data of as many as 2.7 million people in the European Union might have been shared with a consulting firm that worked on Donald Trump’s US presidential campaign.
Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg is planing a call with the EU’s justice commissioner, while the company’s top technology officer is expected to appear before a UK parliament committee and its deputy privacy chief will head to Italy.
Data on as many as 87 million people, mostly in the US, may have been improperly shared with research firm Cambridge Analytica.
EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova said :“This story is too important, too shocking, to treat it as business as usual.”
Some advertisers have curtailed spending, Sandberg said on Thursday.
COMPLAINT AGAINST FACIAL RECOGNITION
A civil rights group and some consumer groups said on Friday they would file a complaint with the US Federal Trade Commission alleging that Facebook’s use of facial recognition techniques threaten users’ privacy.
“The scanning of facial images without express, affirmative consent is unlawful and must be enjoined,” Electronic Privacy Information Center said. In 2011, Facebook had settled privacy-related charges with the FTC, which were brought about by EPIC’s complaints.
FIRM APOLOGISES TO MYANMAR GROUPS
Facebook apologised on Friday to Myanmar civil society groups who took issue with CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s defence of the platform’s record on curbing hate speech roiling the country.
The response came after six Myanmar organisations published an open letter criticising Zuckerberg’s claim of having tackled sensational messages at the height of ethnic tensions.