In the last few days it has been uncovered that the personal data of 50 million ordinary people on Facebook was used to sway the US elections in 2016. Cambridge Analytica’s use of this data without permission or knowledge has dominated the headlines.
I’m a big fan of Facebook, I use it everyday to share information and connect with friends and family near and far. My closest friends even poke fun at me for ‘completing the Facebook game’, having maxed out the number of connections allowed! I do not doubt the huge value Facebook has given the world. That’s why I’m so worried - we ARE Facebook. And I’m not alone: The hashtag #deletefacebook has even trended on Twitter!
Authorities in the United States and Europe have called for Mark Zuckerberg to face them; Cambridge Analytica’s CEO has been suspended; Facebook investors have sued the company, and; the platform has lost US$60bn in market value so far. Governments and the market has responded. How should we, as citizens, respond?
As an avid user, my main question is: Can I still trust Facebook to protect my data? And as a citizen, my main question is: how has this data sharing impacted elections around the world?
Therefore, this petition calls for two simple things:
We call for Mark Zuckerberg to testify to the UK Parliament and US Congress to answer these urgent questions, and;
We call for Facebook to investigate and list publicly any other violations of our data by other third parties.
We want to give Mark Zuckerberg an opportunity to calm our nerves, and act upon Facebook’s community values of being open, inclusive, transparent, and trustworthy. The ball is now in his court.
I hope you join me in signing the petition.
Kind regards,
Alvin CarpioCEO, The Fourth Group
