Mark Zuckerberg Promises Better Privacy in Response to Facebook Crisis

Can we trust the personality quizzes we have all been taking on Facebook? Are they stealing our information without our permission?

Facebook has been under great public criticism and attack since their incidence with Cambridge Analytica where private information and data of over 50 million users was leaked and misused by the firm without permission. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, spoke publicly on Wednesday and made promises regarding future steps of precaution to retrieve the information and safeguard their user data.

However, his statement failed to include an apology, one that was expected from his two million monthly users. In an interview he had with the New York Times, Mr. Zuckerberg asked: “Are there other Cambridge Analyticas out there? Were there apps which could have gotten access to more information and potentially sold it without us knowing or done something that violated people’s trust? We also need to make sure we get that under control.”

Mr. Zuckerberg stated that Facebook would launch an investigation into apps that could potentially be misusing users’ data and information with third-party quizzes from the social network.

This was not the first incident where Facebook has been questioned and criticized for its protection over user information and integrity as a platform as it was accused of being involved with the Russian interference in the presidential election of 2016 and spread of fake news in the past year.

Facebook, as a network that is founded upon their users’ trust, is facing a tremendous crisis, especially in this time where technology itself is at peak of controversy regarding its good and bad.

The Observer of London and Channel 4 in Britain told Facebook last Friday that Cambridge Analytica had not followed its agreements and kept most of the data it had obtained from Facebook. Since then, Facebook has officially removed the firm as well as Aleksandr Kogan, who was the Cambridge University researcher and the lead creator of the personality quiz app, the main instrument employed by the firm to get access to user data and information.

On Tuesday, a Facebook representative had met with Cambridge Analytica representatives, as the firm expressed hopes to lift the ban. However, this seems unlikely in the near future as Mr. Zuckerberg said that Facebook must conduct “a full forensic audit of the firm” and “have full confirmation that there’s no wrongdoing here” before considering allowing Cambridge Analytica back on Facebook.

Also considering the amount of damage this scandal has caused and imposed upon Facebook, Cambridge Analytica is unlikely to return to Facebook anytime soon. Politicians in the United States have questioned Mr. Zuckerberg and his social network’s promise and methods in handling user data. An investigation has been launched on Facebook and Cambridge Analytica by state attorney general of Massachusetts and New York. There have also been protests from the users as the hashtag of “Delete Facebook” has been trending on the platform in the past few days.

There have also been increasing appeals for more regulations on social networks and platforms like Facebook to avoid future incidents like this from happening. Mr. Zuckerberg has been summoned by Lawmakers to testify before Congress to clarify the integrity of the company in its relationship with not only the political firm but also its promise of protecting user data. Lawmakers were clearly discontent and unsatisfied with his statement, which came later than the public has wanted.

According to two employees of Facebook, Mr. Zuckerberg has been working in with engineers in the past week to work on strengthening the security of user information and give the users more control in securing their data from misuse. This is the largest crisis Facebook has faced so far since its founding in 2014 and its priority is to rebuild trust in its users again.