*By Conor White*
With the Cambridge Analytica scandal barely behind it, Facebook is suspending another data firm for its use of user data.
The company is investigating Boston-based Crimson Hexagon for possible ties to a Kremlin-linked Russian nonprofit and the U.S. government.
But Michael Nuñez, Deputy Tech Editor for Mashable, [thinks there's an important public-private distinction.](https://mashable.com/2018/07/20/facebook-suspends-crimson-hexagon/)
"In this case, what \[Crimson Hexagon\] has done is actually take public posts, so this is stuff that people had allowed the public to have access to."
As Nuñez noted, Crimson Hexagon hasn't violated any of Facebook's rules, per se. Cambridge Analytica, on the other hand, was dumped after [extracting](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/26/cambridge-analytica-trump-campaign-us-election-laws) private user data and allegedly violating U.S. law by unfairly influencing the 2014 and 2016 election cycles.
But Nuñez warned, this could be just the beginning.
"I question whether \[Facebook\] has any grip on how many companies are out there like this," he said. "The tricky part about this is once the data leaves Facebook's platform, once a company siphons this off of Facebook using their API, then it's really hard for Facebook to know where that data is going."
Despite the latest news, Nuñez said it will take a lot more bad news to cripple the resilient social media giant.
"The trove of data is still there, they still have two billion users that any advertiser can access at any point, so I think it's going to take a lot to derail the company," he said.
The Cambridge Analytica scandal broke late in the first quarter, so had limited impact on the company's last earnings report. Facebook releases second quarter results on Wednesday.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/facebook-suspends-another-data-firm).
Later today House Republicans will grill Snap, Tiktok and Youtube on how their products affect the mental health of teenagers. It comes after a report revealed that Facebook's photo sharing platform, Instagram, can be harmful to teen's mental health. Rishi Bharwani, Director of Partnerships and Policy, Accountable Tech joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Facebook is changing its company name to Meta. The social media giant is rebranding itself to focus on building the metaverse, a futuristic, immersive experience that would allow people to interact virtually on a daily basis. Steve Sosnick, Interactive Brokers' Chief Strategist, joined Cheddar to discuss the implications of the metaverse and why Facebook is making the move now.
Mark Sebastian, CIO of Karman Line Capital & Founder of OptionPit.com, discusses the inflation headwinds impacting the market and how scrutiny over Facebook's practices could impact revenue for the social media giant going forward.
Just days after Facebook's Meta announcement, Microsoft announced that it will be launching its own mixed reality platform called Mesh through Teams. Jared Spataro, corporate vice president at Microsoft 365, joined Cheddar to provide some additional insight into this metaverse for businesses and how they can benefit from incorporating the tech. Among the features, Mesh users will be able to use cartoon-like avatars to interact with colleagues in an immersive virtual environment.
Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'Ancient Oceans'; Deep-sea biologist Heather Bracken-Grissom sheds light on some of the monsters that we can and cannot explain lurking in the darkness of the ocean's depths; Tim Janssen, CEO of Sofar Ocean, discusses Sofar Ocean's latest round of Series B funding, and how Sofar Ocean is helping connect all five oceans to help everything from climate change to the global shipping industry.
Tim Janssen, CEO of Sofar Ocean, joins 'Cheddar Reveals' to discuss Sofar Ocean's latest round of Series B funding, and how Sofar Ocean is helping connect all five oceans to help everything from climate change to the global shipping industry.
Bob Carter, EVP of sales at Toyota Motor North America, joined Cheddar to discuss the company's first all-electric SUV, the BZ4X, to be available in the United States in spring of 2022. Carter also went into the ongoing global semiconductor chip shortage that forced the automaker to slash production by 15 percent in November impacts on production and the other electric vehicle model being offered from its Lexus brand.
Ted Mortonson, Technology Strategist at Baird, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to break down the factors that led to weaker-than-expected earnings results for the two tech giants, and whether they can find solutions to these issues in the coming months.
Carlo and Baker cover the big races to watch on this off-cycle Election Day, the concrete pledges starting to come out of COP26, Jeffrey Epstein keeps causing CEOs to lose their jobs, and Ryan Murphy's TV hit that wasn't.
