Facebook’s ‘failure of process’ scrutinized
Social-media giant faces possible U.S. sanctions as Cambridge Analytica fallout continues
The fallout from Canadian whistleblower and data expert Chris Wylie continues. It was Wylie who revealed his former firm, Britain’s Cambridge Analytica, had accessed data from 50 million Facebook users in a bid to change people’s perceptions — and possibly elections. Facebook is also facing a torrent of questions about why it didn’t act sooner on the massive breach and whether it is doing enough to protect people’s privacy.
Canada calls in the spies
The Trudeau government is turning to its spy agency and high-tech cybersleuths to ensure the privacy rights of Canadians are being protected. Scott Brison, acting minister of democratic institutions, says he would also be open to strengthening federal privacy laws even further to better protect those who share their information online.
“We’ve reached out as a department of democratic institutions to (the Communications Security Establishment) to ask them to do an analysis of these recent events and to consider other ways that we can further strengthen the protection of our democratic institutions,” Brison said. “Social-media platforms have a responsibility to protect the privacy and personal data of citizens and to protect the integrity of our electoral system where they operate.”
Brison said he planned to meet as well with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the national domestic spy service.
Nix-ed
The board of Cambridge Analytica, founded by Steve Bannon and Robert Mercer, a wealthy Republican donor, says it has suspended CEO Alexander Nix pending a full independent investigation of his actions.
The board cited comments Nix made to an undercover reporter for Britain’s Channel 4 News. In that report, Nix boasted about bribing politicians and putting them in compromising positions with prostitutes. Channel 4 News broadcast more clips Tuesday that show Nix saying his data-mining firm played a major role in securing Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, including “all the data, all the analytics, all the targeting.”
Nix also said Cambridge Analytica used emails set with a “self-destruct timer” during the Trump campaign to make its role more difficult to trace.
Federal threat
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has opened an investigation into Facebook.
The FTC probe marks the most substantial political and legal threat yet to Facebook as it grapples with the fallout from Cambridge Analytica and its controversial tactics. And it could result in the U.S. government slapping Facebook with a massive fine.
At issue for the company is a settlement they reached with the agency in 2011, ending an investigation that Facebook deceived users about the privacy protections they are afforded on the site. Among other requirements, the resulting consent decree mandated Facebook must notify users and obtain their permission before data about them is shared beyond the privacy settings they have established.
Recently, though, former FTC officials have said Facebook’s entanglement with Cambridge Analytica may have violated the company’s legal agreement with the federal watchdog.
If the FTC ultimately finds Facebook broke that agreement, it could fine the company US$40,000 for each violation.
The Zuckerberg tour?
Zuckerberg may have to do a tour of European parliaments to appease lawmakers.
Damian Collins, head of a U.K. parliamentary committee investigating the impact of social media on recent elections, has invited Zuckerberg to appear before it.
“It is now time to hear from a senior Facebook executive with the sufficient authority to give an accurate account of this catastrophic failure of process,” Collins said in a note addressed to Zuckerberg. “Given your commitment at the start of the New Year to ‘fixing’ Facebook, I hope that this representative will be you.”
Soon after, European Parliament President Antonio Tajani said his assembly issued a similar invite. Tajani tweeted Tuesday lawmakers had invited Zuckerberg “to clarify before the representatives of 500 million Europeans that personal data is not being used to manipulate democracy.” Separately, EU justice commissioner Vera Jourova said she also plans to discuss the matter with Facebook during a visit to the U.S.
“Back away”
Elizabeth Denham, Britain’s information commissioner, said she was using all her legal powers to investigate the social-media giant and Cambridge Analytica. She is pursuing a warrant to search Cambridge Analytica’s servers and has asked Facebook to cease its efforts to pursue its own audit of Cambridge Analytica’s data use.
“Our advice to Facebook is to back away and let us go in and do our work,” she said.