Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s public statement on Cambridge Analytica overwhelmingly failed to quell concerns, said Ina Fried, Chief Technology Correspondent at Axios.
“[The company] did a good job of hitting their talking points and they were very consistent,” Fried told Cheddar. “But I don’t think that’s the real measure...There’s a lot still to be answered.
“People want to know what are they doing now for the threats that they’re facing. We’re still waiting to see if are they capable of stopping things like misinformation and election fraud.”
After five days of silence, Zuckerberg gave interviews with four media outlets on Wednesday. The key takeaways included an explicit apology, his willingness to testify in front of Congress, and his openness to regulations on ads on Facebook.
The public mea culpa stems from revelations last week that a data company, Cambridge Analytica, had used Facebook to harvest information on tens of millions of Americans without their permission. That data was then packaged into personality profiles and sold to President Trump’s campaign team during the 2016 election.
In an effort to build back trust with users, Zuckerberg also posted a statement on his Facebook profile with a detailed timeline of what happened and a few changes to privacy and data policies, including an audit of thousands of apps on its platform.
But that isn’t enough, said Alex Shepard, staff writer at The New Republic.
“They would need to open themselves up to an external audit...to look at how these groups and apps are using their data, and they’re not going to do that.”
The apology didn’t do well with investors either. Facebook stock dipped nearly another three percent Thursday, continuing the stocks worst week in years.
Meanwhile in D.C., lawmakers continued to push for Zuckerberg to testify before Congress.
“The notion that these large platforms that have such dominance in the marketplace are going to police themselves and respect the privacy interests of the American people has clearly not worked,” Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) told Cheddar Thursday.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/mark-zuckerberg-tries-to-smooth-things-over-with-billions-of-friends).
Spain's government has fined Airbnb 64 million euros or $75 million for advertising unlicensed tourist rentals. The consumer rights ministry announced the fine on Monday. The ministry stated that many listings lacked proper license numbers or included incorrect information. The move is part of Spain's ongoing efforts to regulate short-term rental companies amid a housing affordability crisis especially in popular urban areas. The ministry ordered Airbnb in May to remove around 65,000 listings for similar violations. The government's consumer rights minister emphasized the impact on families struggling with housing. Airbnb said it plans to challenge the fine in court.
Roomba maker iRobot has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but says that it doesn’t expect any disruptions to devices as the more than 30-year-old company is taken private under a restructuring process. iRobot said that it is being acquired by Picea through a court-supervised process. Picea is the company's primary contract manufacturer. The Bedford, Massachusetts-based anticipates completing the prepackaged chapter 11 process by February.
Serbia’s prosecutor for organized crime has charged a government minister and three others with abuse of position and falsifying of documents related to a luxury real estate project linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The charges came on Monday. The investigation centers on a controversy over a a bombed-out military complex in central Belgrade that was a protected cultural heritage zone but that is facing redevelopment as a luxury compound by a company linked to Kushner. The $500 million proposal to build a high-rise hotel, offices and shops at the site has met fierce opposition from experts at home and abroad. Selakovic and others allegedly illegally lifted the protection status for the site by falsifying documentation.
Wealthfront’s CFO Alan Iberman talks the $2.05B IPO and the major moment for robo banking as the company bets on AI, automation, and “self-driving money."
