'We are sorry': Facebook execs grilled by Canadian MPs over Cambridge Analytica scandal

Senior members of the Facebook leadership team faced a rough ride from MPsat a Commons committee hearing Thursday over their failure to inform more than 600,000 Canadians that their privacy might have been compromised.

For more than two years, Facebook knew that the personal information of thousands of Canadians may have been in the hands of a third party without their consent, and in contravention of Canadian privacy law. The social mediaexecutives offered littleexplanation as to why thecompany sat on this knowledge and only copped to its role in the affair after it was made public in media reports.

Privacy committee MPs grill Facebook executives over data breach

6 years ago

Duration 9:14

'I was shocked by how dodgy they were,' says vice-chair Charlie Angus.

Robert Sherman, deputy privacy officer for Facebook, conceded the company should havebeen more proactive in informing users that their raw data might have been used by Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm that helped the Leave campaign in the Brexit vote and the candidacy of U.S. President Donald Trump.

When asked why Facebook didn't notify Canadians whose personal information was breached in 2016, Sherman said: "In retrospect, we should have done that."

'Huge breach of trust'

Kevin Chan,head of public policy for Facebook in Canada, offered an apology to Canadians whoseprofilesmight have been compromised.Chan said Facebook was too idealistic and "naive"about how its technology is used, and didn't focus enough on abuse.

"What is alleged to have occurred is a huge breach of trust to our users, and for that we are sorry," Chan,ex-policy director for former Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff,told MPs on the House of Commons privacy committee.

Facebook's Kevin Chan refuses to stop for reporters

6 years ago

Duration 1:54

Chan appeared at the Commons Ethics committee and then when he left he declined the common practice of speaking to reporters

According to Christopher Wylie, theCambridge Analyticaformer employee who blew the whistle on the privacy abuse, the firm had access to data frommore than 80 million Facebook profilesglobally.

Wylie alleges the firm acquired the information from Aleksandr Kogan, a Russian-American who developed aquiz app called "ThisIsYourDigitalLife." Wylie said that, while at the firm, hehijacked the profiles of millions of Facebook users in order to target the U.S. electorate during the last presidential campaign.

The firm had access to information on what pages users liked, their marital status, datesof birth, home cities, professed religious beliefsand other facts included intheir profiles, Sherman said Thursday. He said it's also "possible" private messages were shared in "small amounts."

The companyrecently started circulating a notice to users who mayhave been affected.

The Menlo Park, Calif.-based Sherman added it's "certainly a possibility there are other incidents out there" of privacy breaches beyond the Cambridge Analytica affair.

• Offer to meet Facebook before hearings 'inappropriate,' MP Charlie Angus says
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Cambridge Analyticahas denied it useddata scraped from an app that obtained material from Facebook users in its work with the Trump campaign during the U.S. presidential election.

The Facebook executives sought to reassure legislators that the platform has changed since Kogan allegedly shopped user data to willing buyers, with Sherman saying it has restricted access to information and changed its policies.

When asked if Facebook would voluntarily implementin Canada the principles the European Unionis about to enact through its General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Facebook executives waffled. Sherman and Chan said the company was open to sensible regulationsand is currently working with Canada's privacy commissioner.

Conservative MP Peter Kent questioned Facebook's professed openness totighterregulationsor a strengthenedPersonal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), saying CanadianMPswere recentlywarned by Facebook officials in Washington, D.C. that such a move could result in Facebook dialling back its investments in Canada notably its $7 millionfinancial commitment to theartificialintelligence (AI) research hub in Montreal.

"We were told,almost in passing, that any new Canadian regulationsmight well put at risk Facebook investments in Canada," Kent said. "I'm wondering if that same caution would still be made?"

Chanstrenuouslydenied investment decisions are being tied to a country'sregulatory burden. "That is not our view, that is not the representation we would have made. In fact, we're quite proud to be supporters of AI in Canada."

Reached for comment later, Kent stood by his description of the initial warningfrom Facebook officials.

Charlie Angus questions Facebook executives

6 years ago

Duration 2:38

Ontario NDP MP Charlie Angus asks Facebook executives to implement the EU's General Data Protection Regulation for Canadian users

The question about GDPR came after a report in the U.K. newspaper The GuardianThursday that Facebookhas moved more than 1.5 billion users out of reach of European privacy law, despite a vow by companyCEOMark Zuckerbergthat Facebook would apply the "spirit" of the legislation globally.

According to the Guardian,Facebook is shifting the responsibility for all users outside the U.S., Canada and the EU from its international headquartersin Ireland to its main offices in California which means those users will now be on a site governed by U.S.law rather than Irish law.

Chan also wasquestioned by NDPMP Charlie Angus about why he hadn't yet registered as a lobbyist, given the fact that he's met with senior cabinet members, including Finance Minister Bill Morneau.

The former Liberal aide said it wasn't necessary for him to register since the portion of his work that could be classified as lobbying falls short of the Lobbying Act's 20 per cent minimum threshold.

He added that the meeting with Morneauwas simply to show him how best to use the Facebook Live function of the platform after the release of the federal budget. That promptedAngus to ask if Chan thought that sort of activity was a good use of his time.

Duff Conacher, the co-founder of Democracy Watch, said Thursday he'd be filing an official complaint with the lobbying commissioner over Chan's failure to register, asking that an investigation be launched into Facebook's activities in Ottawa.

After preaching the virtues of openness and transparency while before MPs, Chan walked away from the committee room refusing to answer questions from reporters.

Trudeau on Facebook data breach

6 years ago

Duration 1:13

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says more work is needed to ensure privacy and democratic process is protected on major platforms.