Mark Zuckerberg took to the stand to testify about the Cambridge Analytica scandal in front of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committee on Tuesday afternoon.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg got into an awkward exchange with Democratic senator Dick Durbin on Tuesday when the senator probed him about his own personal privacy views.
During the live-streamed hearing on Capitol Hill, the Democratic senator asked Zuckerberg whether he’d be comfortable sharing the name of the hotel he’d stayed in the night before.
Of the hundreds of questions thrown at the Facebook CEO by US lawmakers, none appeared to flummox Zuckerberg than Durbin’s question about where he’d slept the night before.
“Would you be comfortable sharing with us the name of the hotel you stayed in last night?” Durbin asked.
Zuckerberg paused for a full eight seconds, chuckled, grimaced before ultimately responding with “no”.
Clip via Slate
Following this answer, the crowd joined the Facebook CEO in nervous laughter. But Durbin was only getting started.
“If you’ve messaged anybody this week would you share with us the names of the people you’ve messaged?” the Illinois Democrat asked.
Zuckerberg once again showcased a similar unwillingness to answer, to which Durbin replied: “I think that might be what this is all about.
“Your right to privacy, the limits of your right to privacy, and how much you’d give away in modern America.”
Mr Zuckerberg, the CEO of the multi-billion-dollar company, accepted personal responsibility for the leak of users’ data in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
“I think everyone should have control over how their information is used,” Mr Zuckerberg said.
Clip via Washington Post
During the hearing, Zuckerberg claimed that Facebook had asked Cambridge Analytica to delete its data back in 2015, when it first became aware of the leak.
The Facebook CEO stated that his business is now complying with a full audit of its records, after it was reported earlier in the year that Cambridge Analytica still had access to its harvested data.
Some 40,000 Irish Facebook users were affected by the scandal. You can find out whether your information was compromised here.
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