Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged a range of mistakes on Wednesday, including allowing most of its two billion users to have their public profile data scraped by outsiders. However, even as he took responsibility, he maintained he was the best person to fix the problems he created.
Why it matters: Zuckerberg is under unprecedented pressure after the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, which lawmakers will grill him about when he testifies before Congress next week. “We’re probably a year into a massive three-year push,” he said. “These are big issues.”
Trump's attacks on Amazon are likely to put the company under added tax scrutiny by foreign governments, according to a report by Wells Fargo.
Why it matters: Ken Sena, a senior analyst with the bank, said Trump's multi-day Twitter rant regarding retail closures and his "perceptions of Amazon tax evasion stand to play well to some foreign and state governments who conceivably share the president’s concerns."
Facebook has increased the number of people it says may have been impacted by the Cambridge Analytica scandal from 50 million in earlier reports to 87 million and will begin telling people if their information may have been improperly shared.
Thousands of Google employees, including senior engineers, have signed a letter protesting the company's participation in a Pentagon AI project that could sharpen drone targeting, The New York Times reports.
The letter, sent to CEO Sundar Pichai, says Google "should not be in the business of war" and should pull out of the program, Project Maven, which uses artificial intelligence to improve visual recognition.
San Bruno police said Wednesday that Nasim Najafi Aghdam, the suspect in the YouTube shooting, went to a gun range Tuesday morning, shortly before going to the company's headquarters and opening fire. Police also confirmed they believe Aghdam was motivated by her anger toward company for limiting access to her videos.
The bottom line: Police say Aghdam, who died at the scene from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, had no specific connection to any of the three people who were wounded in Tuesday's shooting.
Facebook is updating its terms of service to clarify what it does with user data. The updates are in response to major changes to Facebook's business since the last time it significantly updated the terms in 2015.
Why it matters: Yes, the terms were outdated. But this is also an opportunity for Facebook to play up its commitment to protecting user data after the Cambridge Analytica scandal — although the company says the update isn't connected to the controversy.
The security firm Varonis found that 41% of large companies on which it performed data audits gave all employees access to at least a thousand sensitive files.
Why it matters: Giving employees too much access to sensitive files risks problems with insider threats and increases the likelihood hackers are able to access vital information.
Charter Communications, Cox Communications and Comcast, which collectively own a cross-screen media sales company called NCC Media, are creating a new division within NCC to design, sell and deploy ads across the data networks of the three companies. The companies said Wednesday that they will launch the division later this year.
Why it matters: Data-based ad sales is the future of advertising. They are more cost-efficient and can better target individuals, increasing the likelihood that the ads are more receptive and; therefore, effective, for users. TV networks and digital websites are similarly forming these types of combined networks to sell ads, because the larger your footprint, the stronger your data sets are.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is confirmed to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee next week, the panel said on Wednesday morning.
Mark your calendars: The hearing will take place on the morning of Wednesday, April 11. It will be the first time that Zuckerberg has testified before Congress.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has taken very aggressive action against Russian Facebook trolls as the backlash against his platform continues to escalate.
The gritty details: "This morning we removed 70 Facebook and 65 Instagram accounts — as well as 138 Facebook Pages — that were controlled by the Russia-based Internet Research Agency (IRA)," Alex Stamos, Chief Security Officer at Facebook, wrote in a post.
Workers at YouTube are still reeling from Tuesday's shooting. But as the healing effort begins, one question is whether Google and other Silicon Valley companies will be even more vocal in the ongoing national debate over gun control.
The bigger picture: Google has been understandably focused on its own employees in the immediate aftermath, but already some others in tech are viewing the event as more evidence that tougher gun laws are needed.
