Facebook Breach: Apple, IBM Heads Want Stricter Data Regulations

With the Cambridge Analytica scandal revealing massive Facebook data misuse, Apple chief Tim Cook and IBM chair Ginni Rometty have called for more measures to ensure user data protection. Speaking at the China Development Forum in Beijing, the two tech honchos called for better regulations to protect personal data shared online, the USA Today reported on Monday.

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The call for additional protection measure comes after the leak of personal and other data on some 50 million users to the London-based political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica became public. US Federal Trade Commission confirmed on Monday that it was investigating Facebook and said that it "takes very seriously recent press reports raising substantial concerns about the privacy practices of Facebook".

Cambridge Analytica, which collaborated with the election campaign of Donald Trump in the run-up to the 2016 election, used the leaked information to develop a computer programme to predict the decisions of US voters and influence them.

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"Today, the FTC is confirming that it has an open non-public investigation into these practices," Efe quoted Acting FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director, Tom Pahl, as saying. Rob Sherman, Facebook's deputy privacy chief, said in a statement last week that the tech social networking firm remains "strongly committed to protecting people's information", adding that "we appreciate the opportunity to answer questions the FTC may have".

A week ago, after the controversial leak of private information on millions of users came to light, press reports said that the FTC was investigating whether Facebook violated the terms of a 2011 consent agreement requiring user consent for sharing data by providing use data to Cambridge Analytica in 2014.

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