My personal data leaked to Cambridge Analytica, Facebook CEO Zuckerberg says in US House Committee hearing

  • Javed Anwer
  • New Delhi
  • April 11, 2018
  • UPDATED 20:23 IST

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg started his second testimony in Washington DC on April 11. Unlike his hearing yesterday that took place in front of two Senate Committees, this one is before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

During the testimony Zuckerberg said that his own personal data was leaked to Cambridge Analytica in 2014. It is not clear at the moment how his data leaked but it is possible that one of Zuckerberg may have installed the rogue quiz app created by Alexander Kogan

At the very start of the hearing, Zuckerberg came under fire for failing to explain the nature of Facebook and what sort of company it is. In reply Zuckerberg said that Facebook is primarily a technology company and not media company or a broadcaster or a financial institution.

Representative Greg Walden kicked off the proceedings asking Zuckerberg to explain Facebook. He said that the company creates videos, allows people to send money through apps and does a lot more than just connect people. So is it a media company? Or a financial institution, he asked.

Zuckerberg said that Facebook is a technology company. "Facebook is primarily a technology company," Zuckerberg said, trying to deflect the threat of regulation will come in case it is defined as a financial institution or a media company.

Walden also said "Facebook may have grown but has it matured... It is time to ask question whether Facebook grew too fast and broke too many things."

In his prepared remarks, Zuckerberg read from the same statement he gave to the senators yesterday.

"It's clear now that we didn't do enough to prevent these tools (Facebook) from being used for harm as well. That goes for fake news, foreign interference in elections, and hate speech, as well as developers and data privacy. We didn't take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake," Zuckerberg said. "It was my mistake, and I'm sorry. I started Facebook, I run it, and I'm responsible for what happens here."

Also Read: Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook doesn't spy on people through microphone. Period

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