Facebook ran a full-page ad in a number of UK newspapers this weekend to apologise for the Cambridge Analytica fiasco.
The page ran in The Observer (which runs in lieu of a Sunday Guardian), The Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Mirror, Sunday Express and Mail on Sunday. It also ran in The New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal in the US.
It read as follows:
"We have a responsibility to protect your information. If we can’t, we don’t deserve it.
"You may have heard about a quiz app built by a university researcher that leaked Facebook data to millions of people in 2014. This was a breach of trust, and I’m sorry we didn’t do more at the time. We’re now taking steps to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
"We’ve already stopped apps like this from getting so much information. Now we’re limiting the data apps get when you sign in using Facebook.
"We’re also investigating every single app that had access to large amounts of data before we fixed this. We expect there are others. And when we find them, we will ban then and tell everyone affected.
"Finally, we’ll remind you which apps you’re giving access to your information – so you can shut off the ones you don’t want anymore.
"Thank you for believing in this community. I promise to do better for you.
"Mark Zuckerberg."
Fake news
The ad does not name Cambridge Analytica, nor mention that the data in question was possibly used to help swing key votes such as Donald Trump’s US election victory and the Brexit vote.
This follows the more detailed apology issued by Zuckerberg first through Facebook and then on CNN last week.
However, despite the apologies, the press and public continue to give Zuckerberg a rough ride.
American People Admit Having Facebook Data Stolen Kind Of Worth It To Watch That Little Fucker Squirm https://t.co/9nLqDzI56F pic.twitter.com/zaRZWMtjmD
— The Onion (@TheOnion) March 22, 2018
Who did this Meme?! Lal. pic.twitter.com/HRL8i8qCpv
— Jay Kuo (@nycjayjay) March 23, 2018
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