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FACEBOOK CHIEF MARK Zuckerberg took out full-page ads in nine major British and US newspapers today to apologise for a huge data privacy scandal.
“We have a responsibility to protect your information. If we can’t we don’t deserve it,” he said.
The ads ran in prominent positions in six British nationals, including the best-selling Mail on Sunday, The Sunday Times and The Observer – which helped break the story – as well as the New York Times, Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.
Some journalists have questioned the purpose of the advertisements, particularly those in The Observer, which Facebook had threatened with legal action about their story which exposed the misuse of Facebook users’ private data.
Zuckerberg explained there was a quiz developed by a university researcher “that leaked Facebook data of millions of people in 2014″.
“This was a breach of trust, and I’m sorry we didn’t do more at the time. We’re now taking steps to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” he said.
The ad reflects public statements Zuckerberg made last week after the row prompted investigations in Europe and the United States, and sent Facebook’s share price plunging.
He repeated that the social media giant had changed the rules on apps so no such data breach could happen again.
“We’re also investigating every single app that had access to large amounts of data before we fixed this. We expect there are others,” he wrote.
And when we find them, we will ban them and tell everyone affected.
There was no mention of the British firm accused of using the data, Cambridge Analytica, which worked on US President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign.
It too has blamed the University of Cambridge researcher Alexsandr Kogan, for any potential breach of data rules.
Kogan created a lifestyle quiz app for Facebook which was downloaded by 270,000 people, but allowed access to tens of millions of their contacts.
Facebook says he passed this to Cambridge Analytica without its knowledge. Kogan says he is being made a scapegoat.
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He is being let off the hook by the press who are allowing him to act like this was a once off “breach” and not Facebook’s entire business model.
@Oliver Klozov: wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him.
@Oliver Klozov: Tim Berners-lee invented the web as we know it just 24 years ago. Social media is much newer. We are still very new to these new technologies. Laws will need to adapt and catch up quickly.
Can hardly blame FB and Zuckerberg for all of this.
@Oliver Klozov: if you use Facebook you deserve what you get full stop.
@Gavin Scott: how can laws adapt when the likes of Facebook, Google and Apple have trillions of dollars stockpiled and lobby politicians to keep everything just as it is? They are like the Colombian drugs cartels. They make the laws. The politicians send them over the first draft and they erase the bits they don’t like. The only way this is going to end is ugly!
Ha. What a knob. So long Facebook and good riddance.
@PutinBot 5002: did he not post it on Facebook?
@Minom Pnnomm: No – he couldn’t trust it.
You should all download the information Zuckerberg has on you. It’s a real eye opener to see what the likes of Facebook and Google have.
@Daddy Long Legs: how do you do that?
There is some irony in Facebook using the outmoded print medium to issue its apology.
@Earth Traveller: That outmoded print medium helped expose the Facebook/CA data scandal in the first place, so don’t write them off (haha) entirely.
@Earth Traveller: less people will see it that way
@Earth Traveller: Especially Sunday Papers – which i very much doubt are bought by a lot of facebook users.
Sorry you found out
@James Cookson: the fear in this one is strong.
This is very disingenuous. Why not run them within Facebook? Obviously it would turn people off using it more. But why use another media to apologise?
@Paul Quirke: most importantly he wants the global political establishment to hear him and they still get their news from the traditional papers as opposed to facebook. He doesn’t really care about the plebs or protecting their data.
What a complete human turd he truelly is, in my opinion all media types are inextricably tainted by this and no longer above reproach.
‘Media’ social or otherwise was muted to be unbiased and not a money led influencing platform.
The last bastion of what was to be an uplifting and educational force in local media along with social media has just seen its last flotilla sink on the horizon.
Delete Facebook for your sanity and choose your news/writers mindfully and strenuously check their sources.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Amazing.
The Observer help break the scandal (Facebook threatened to sue them for it) and when the damage is done Facebook and Zuckerberg come back with their tails between their legs and pay for a full-page apology in the same paper.
What a crock. You knew about this ‘breach’ for years, did next to nothing, threatened the media that exposed you, and NOW you want to be sorry.
Jog on. Deleted my facebook and should’ve done it before now.
He can do what he likes. He has everyone’s information at a touch of a button… Power..
@Karl Doran: He doesn’t have mine
@Karl Doran: We have our own Cambridge Analytica by the way. https://www.irishexaminer.com/text/ireland/cwmhojaugbkf/
He’s a busted flush now. Going to be interesting to watch Facespook crash and burn. #deletefacebook.
@Jenny Hoppenshaw: bit by a very very long way is he a busted flush , damaged business yes , but billions or users and billions in revenues will continue – wait and see.
@Dave Hammond: bebo was flying high once too. Facebook will crash and burn. It has already started.
Why place ads in only US and UK newspapers, did it affect only users in those two countries ?
Who knew the narcissistic self-indulgence of Facebook would come back to haunt people.
What about google?
@Emer Caffrey: Google is not your friend either.
@Jenny Hoppenshaw: Ps. #deletegoogle.
Hopefully people will now cop on as to how naive they have been about how their personal data is being used. This should be the end of Facebook
So the Americans and British get an apology. The rest of the world can jump…
Apologising doesn’t make him trustworthy. I sincerely doubt he didn’t know what was going on. Sure he stole the idea for Facebook in the first place, his whole business is based on deceiving people.
Does anybody think sorry is enough?
Should be prosecuted for this. Why do the rich get away with everything?
Too late Suckerberg!!
@Jack Jackson: Lord Zucker
Like and share.
So, who here has connected to Irish media via Facebook and twitter? 711,000 on the Indo facebook site. That’s a lot of mining. Or what are other apps at? Every so often i’m asked if i’d like to download the Journal app. Wouldn’t you think once would be enough to refuse.
Hypocrisy is alive and well and living in Face Book
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