Lawmakers grill Facebook exec over data usage
LONDON — A cohort of international lawmakers is trying to turn up the pressure on Facebook, grilling one of its executives and making a show of founder Mark Zuckerberg’s refusal to explain to them why his company failed to protect users’ data privacy.
The rare “international grand committee” of lawmakers from nine countries gathered in London to get answers about Facebook’s handling of personal data and made a point of leaving an empty seat with Zuckerberg’s name tag.
Richard Allan, the company’s vice-president for policy solutions, said he volunteered to attend because Zuckerberg had already appeared before other committees this year, including in Washington and, briefly, Brussels.
Lawmakers from Canada, Ireland, Brazil, Argentina, Singapore, Belgium, France and Latvia joined their British counterparts at the parliamentary select committee hearing — the first such cross-border event in London since 1933. They want to scrutinize Facebook over its handling of data privacy, most notably involving consultancy Cambridge Analytica’s improper use of information from more than 87 million Facebook accounts to manipulate elections.
Allan apologized frequently but revealed little new about Facebook and its operations. He acknowledged that the company hasn’t been without blame in how it handled various scandals. “I’m not going to disagree with you that we’ve damaged public trust with some of the actions we’ve taken,” he said.