It’s been a rough couple of days for Facebook. British data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica is at the centre of controversy in the United States and Britain after two newspapers reported that the company harvested personal data about Facebook users beginning in 2014.
Facebook said the company was "outraged" after being "deceived" over the misuse of data by political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, which improperly harvested information on 50 million users. A company statement appeared to place the blame for the incident on the British-based firm linked to President Donald Trump, which according to Facebook violated terms of the social network by misusing data from an academic researcher.
Best known for assisting the 2016 presidential campaign of US President Donald Trump, Cambridge Analytica is now facing a government search of its London office, questions from US state authorities, along with a demand by Facebook that it submit to a forensic audit.
Facebook shares closed down nearly 7 percent, wiping nearly $40 billion off its market value as investors worried that new legislation could damage the company's advertising business.
Recently, Brian Acton, one of the co-founders of WhatsApp asked people to ‘delete Facebook’. Acton’s tweet came as Facebook battles allegations that data analysis company Cambridge Analytica accessed 50 million Facebook users’ data without their permission. Facebook acquired WhatsApp in 2014 for $19 billion and Acton was associated with Facebook after the sale before quitting to start another company – Signal Foundation.
At the moment, it is being said that Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and their teams "are working around the clock to get all the facts and take the appropriate action moving forward, because they understand the seriousness of this issue."
But, between this mess, could this really be the end of Facebook?
In conversation with NewsWeek, Ed Macnair, CEO of security firm CensorNet said, “This is not the end. What you may see is the company putting in place a set of policies to return confidence to their handling of data and distance itself from certain third parties. I think this is the end of the ‘We are just a platform’ argument. It is increasingly clear now that the company needs to take more responsibility for how it is used.”
Facebook said it was pressing Cambridge Analytica for answers, after getting assurances from the firm in 2015 that it had deleted all data. Facebook has hired forensic auditors from the firm Stroz Friedberg to help.
While Facebook investigates, the social network said it was suspending Cambridge Analytica, its parent SCL, Kogan and another man, Christopher Wylie, formerly of Cambridge Analytica, from its platform for violating Facebook rules