Facebook faces questions from Canada over data leak, apologises
Ottawa, Apr 20 (IBNS): Canada has thrown some tough questions to a senior Facebook executive over the leakage of data of several countrymen, media reports said.
Kevin Chan, head of public policy of Facebook in Canada, has apologised for the breach of data of Canadians.
He has referred to the incident as a "huge breach of trusts".
The questions were asked by a parliamentary committee in which Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith was a part.
Erskine-Smith said the incident has violated the Canadian law as it requires "meaningful consent" of any user before obtaining his/her information.
Erskine-Smith has been quoted by Toronto Star, "Where was the consent of 620,000 users? Perhaps you’re in compliance with the law now, but it seems pretty clear that you weren’t in compliance with the law previously."
Not countering the Liberal MP, Robert Sherman, Facebook's deputy chief privacy officer, said: "I think it’s important to note that, as our (policy) changes in 2014 reflect, we don’t think that’sthe right way for the platform to operate and it’s not how the platform operates today." He has been quoted by Toronto Star.
Chan has agreed with Erskine-Smith that Facebook needs to be honest and transparent.
Both Chan and Sherman emphasised the need to win back the trust of the users.
Cambridge Analytica has been named in an investigative report by Britain's channel 4 for having harvested data of up to 50 million Facebook users without permission and using them to help politicians.
Releasing a footage obtained via a sting operation, Channel 4 News had aired an interview of Cambridge Analytica chief executive Alexander Nix, where he was seen discussing tactics with the undercover reporter on how the firm would discredit politicians online.
Nix spoke about sending Ukrainian girls around to the candidate's house, adding that these girls 'are very beautiful, I find that works very well'.
He said another way to lure the target is to 'offer them a deal that's too good to be true and make sure that's video recorded'.
The company first denied any wrongdoing.
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