Facebook on the Hot Seat!
CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg testified in front of the House Senate Committee today. One reporter mentioned that as "Zuck" passed by to walk into the Courtroom, there was " a chilling presence in the air."
The "Zuck" and his once unrivaled Facebook is now on the Hotseat. Will the domination era of Facebook soon come crumbling down?
The mega billionaire CEO is in deep trouble, and Facebook's future as it stands today hangs in the balance. Today he was grilled heavily by lawmakers in both the House and Senate.
Has Facebook Committed a Crime?
If you have not been following, the whole premise of this hearing is to determine if Facebook is in violation of Anti-Trust Laws for not doing more to prevent London-based consulting firm Cambridge Analytica from improperly obtaining the personal information of 87 million users that were later obtained by Russia to allegedly sway the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election.
Zuckerberg has admitted under oath that Facebook knew of the breach as early as 2015, but didn't immediately inform the millions of Facebook users whose data was stolen.
"That was our big mistake, I wish we would have acted sooner", replied Zuckerberg.
ALL the original personal data was obtained by Cambridge Analytica from a third-party application created by researcher Aleksandr Kogan to "scrape" personal data from unsuspecting Facebook users through a personality questionnaire disguised as an academic research tool.
Future government regulation of social media was heavily stressed. It was suggested even by Zuckerberg that "regulations are inevitable" in social media, and the House suggested regulations for the internet be taken as far as strictly as they have been made for TV and radio.
Lawmakers even suggested that Facebook is a "virtual monopoly" and action should be taken. This was a sub-topic.
However, make no mistake.
The hot topic and point of contention here is do WE truly own our own data?
When we share personal information or a photo that we have created, do we still own that photo after it is shared to the world online, or does this an act of "consenting" a change of ownership of that information and photo to the world?
Also how much should the internet industry, especially social media industry be regulated by big government?
Is this the beginning of the end for Facebook?
Let's Get Your Thoughts......
These are serious and deep questions that will certainly impact the privacy policies of all social media and the repercussions of sharing our personal data online in the future.
As one Democrat senator asked who pointed the finger at Zuckerberg, "Why is the onus on the user to opt into privacy and security settings?"
This senator was being explicit that Facebook should change its default settings to minimize the collection and use of users' personal data.
What do you think?
Please share your opinions and let's start a conversation.
Cheers,
Kaju
Recent Comments
81
This is just a beginning... we'll see others under the same fire... We all are quite negligent regarding privacy and data security. It applied to the majority of institutions who are handling our data. I hope after the situation with FB, something will be done...
I totally agree Nadja, this is the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
One senator made the incisive but true remark during the hearing, "“while Facebook has certainly grown, I worry it has not matured.”
Many other social media platforms will definitely fall by the wayside as far as having insufficient and negligent privacy and data security policies.
Social media is definitely heading toward heavy government regulations.
I'm with you Kaju,. I use Facebook strictly for traffic purposes. My personal account has the same picture it had 5 years ago. I never post anything either. I just copy my blog posts to my business account.
People share too much and are not careful enough.
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I found it interesting to know that he met with the people who were going to quiz him the night before, then he was not under oath, so it was a rather meaningless few days in DC for the WizKid.
'Dallas
Wow,I didn't know that. Thanks for that valuable nugget of information Dallas. Very entertaining too.
I watched about 20 minutes of Zuckerberg's testimony this morning and he didn't look like a happy camper. It'll be interesting to see what happens but I happen to agree with the senator that FB should change its policies.
Lynn, I am with you, I agree 100% Facebook needs to change its policies to place less of the privacy burden on the user and accept a greater responsibility. Thanks for your thoughts.
I am intrigued by this House Judiciary Senate hearing.
Yes Lynn, and as Nadja wisely prognosticates, others will soon fall under the same fire.
Guilty. There is no privacy with Facebook. I do not like FB at all and never have liked it. I am only in it because I am in WA.
I am not a fan of Facebook either, and my personal account has long-lied dormant Brad. I am with you.
I saw Zuckerberg on the news last night being questioned by the Senator and the senator asked him if he would like his privacy exposed. AND it took him a while to answer NO. He lost me then. Had he answered no immediately then I would think "okay, he has realised he has made a mistake and has put his hand up to it"
BUT NO, he was trying to worm his way out of it out.
I was watching the hearing this morning on CNN, and he was very "hem and hawing" in his answers. He often sidestepped the questions or gave vague answers. I agree Brad.
Thanks so much again Brad :) I have a new YouTube channel that's producing great content. Here's a great Tokyo story for you and the Efren match video play by play:)
Send me your YT link and I will Subscribe. You can Subscribe to my channel here:)
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If you don't yet, I will happily return the favor when yours is up.:)
Thanks so much again Anonymoose :) I have a new YouTube channel that's producing great content. Here's a great Tokyo story for you and the Efren match video play by play:)
Send me your YT link and I will Subscribe. You can Subscribe to my channel here:)
http://bit.ly/2T21P2N
If you don't yet, I will happily return the favor when yours is up.:)
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loved it when Zuckerberg was asked if he wanted to tell everyone what hotel he was staying at. uh, no.
Lol, totally loved it! He definitely took the 5th on that one!
No 5th. He said no, grudgingly but he said no.
Oh I missed that!!