Facebook data breach: 40 MILLION more users’ personal info was leaked
FACEBOOK has revealed the data of up to 87 million people using the social media may have been shared with political firm Cambridge Analytica - nearly 40 million more than previously thought.
Mark Zuckerberg admits 'mistake' over Cambridge Analytica row
Facebook’s Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer admitted the shocking figure while explaining in a blog post what measures the company was taking to restrict the access to third-party app developers of personal data.
Mr Schroepfer wrote: “Starting on Monday, April 9, we’ll show people a link at the top of their News Feed so they can see what apps they use—and the information they have shared with those apps.
“As part of this process, we will also tell people if their information may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica.
“In total, we believe the Facebook information of up to 87 million people —mostly in the US — may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica.”
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In total, we believe the Facebook information of up to 87 million people may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica
More than a million social media users in the UK are believed to have been affected by the data breach.
British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica said in a statement on Wednesday that the data leak affected 30 million users, a lower number than the one shared by the social media giant.
It reads: ”Cambridge Analytica licensed data for no more than 30 million people from GSR [Global Science Research], as is clearly stated in our contract with the research company.
“We did not receive more data than this.”
The British company allegedly used the information to support Donald Trump’s election campaign.
Facebook was hit by investors and users’ anger following the scandal.
Its CEO Mark Zuckerberg told reporters that the company "didn't do enough" to prevent the massive data breach.
He said: "That goes for fake news, foreign interference in elections.
“As a huge mistake, it was my mistake."
Mr Zuckerberg also admitted in an interview with Vox's editor Ezra Klein that his company scans all the images and texts sent by users on its Messenger app to make sure they don’t conflict with its guidelines.
But the company insisted that it doesn’t use the data scanned from messages for advertising, Bloomberg reported.
A Messenger spokeswoman said in a statement: “For example, on Messenger, when you send a photo, our automated systems scan it using photo matching technology to detect known child exploitation imagery or when you send a link, we scan it for malware or viruses.
“Facebook designed these automated tools so we can rapidly stop abusive behaviour on our platform.”
