Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says Cambridge Analytica breach included his personal data

Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday told a committee of the United States Senate that Cambridge Analytica had illegal used his personal data, as well. But he continued to defend his company’s privacy options saying users did not use the privacy controls at their disposal to choose what information to share, The Guardian reported.

“Every time someone chooses to share something on Facebook...there is a control. Right there. Not buried in the settings somewhere, but right there,” Zuckerberg told the US House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, according to Reuters.

Zuckerberg is testifying before the committee in the case of Cambridge Analytica – British political consulting firm – harvesting the private data of 87 million Facebook users. The firm had worked on President Donald Trump’s campaign before the 2016 elections.

On Tuesday, the Facebook chief had apologised for failing to protect the personal information of millions and said that it had clearly been a mistake to believe that Cambridge Analytica had the deleted user data it had harvested in an attempt to sway the elections. On Monday, he had admitted to the US Congress that his company had not done enough to prevent the misuse of people’s data.

Zuckerberg, at Wednesday’s hearing, faced questions on what Facebook was doing to give users more flexibility to choose whether they wanted to share their personal data with the social media website or third parties.

“How can consumers have control over their data when Facebook does not have control over the data?” a Democrat representative asked Zuckerberg.

Cambridge Analytica was initially accused of using the information of 50 million Facebook users to bolster Trump’s campaign before the 2016 election. But on April 4, the social media company said data the breach had affected 37 million more people.