back to article In a sorry state again: Zuckerberg dusts off apology playbook in mea culpa to Congress

Facebook supremo Mark Zuckerberg will apologize to US Congress this week as his website tries to clean up yet another privacy scandal. The social network founder will face American lawmakers on Wednesday and, according to his prepared remarks [PDF] made public Monday by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Zuckerberg …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How about even a scripted-apology for Shadow-Profiling?

    When Zuk is questioned this week, will any Politicians finally realize just how insidious 'internet tracking' really is, or will they just get lost in their obsession with Fake News or blaming 3rd Parties. Take Shadow-Profiles:

    1. Installing an Adblocker doesn't stop Facebook from tracking you through your friends. You automatically get added to 'lookalike' groups for tracking and sales purposes etc. Low-hanging-fruit friends / colleagues / family with your email / phone number are basically betraying your trust!

    2. Backroom data deals such as Facebook Hospital-Patient-Slurp or Google NHS-Deepmind. Again Ad-blockers won't save you here either. Neither will Data Brokers scraping info from supermarket loyalty schemes, bank credit reports, mortgage, car loans / credit cards / phone service etc.

    3. Shadow Profiles created from tracking non-users from websites with deals with Facebook or hosting Facebook like buttons / Google-Analytics or other 3rd party partnership that do the same kind of tracking... Here Ad-blockers should help. But only if they're updated all the time and the list of shadowy data websites is current, which is something which can't be guaranteed all of the time. It also assumes that your partners, kids, family don't visit and borrow a device and accidentally disable some of your defenses, even just for an evening etc.. It happens believe me!

    1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

      Re: How about even a scripted-apology for Shadow-Profiling?

      will any Politicians finally realize just how insidious 'internet tracking' really is,

      Nope.

      They still do not realize the level of tracking. They still do not realize all of the consequences. What they love is the result of it for them - the amount of leverage and precision in targeting it gives them during elections. Like it or not, Zuk has become indispensable for them.

      None of them will risk a "total nuclear disarmament" so they will look for "half a Zuk", "limited arsenal of Zuk", "no intermediate range Zuk" or at least a "deterrent Zuk". Any one of these is still more than enough to exterminate the democracy as we know it and facilitate the rigging of any election.

      1. Grikath

        Re: How about even a scripted-apology for Shadow-Profiling?

        Not really... They can sacrifice Zuck, and deal with Musk.

        It's not as if Google doesn't scrub even more...

        1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

          Re: How about even a scripted-apology for Shadow-Profiling?

          It's not as if Google doesn't scrub even more..

          Sure it does. It, however, supplies a different delivery system as part of the package.

          In theory, you can do with Google ads what you do with Facebook. In practice it is not used because it is very clear for the user that it is ads. Now... if... Google... agrees to deliver per-user targeted search adjustment based on political terms. That's a thought...

          1. fuzzie

            Re: How about even a scripted-apology for Shadow-Profiling?

            I might not be based on explicitly political terms, but Google very much tailors its results based on the profile it's built for you. Try doing a search while logged into your Google account vs one on a clean/sandboxed machine and you'll see marketly different results.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Speaking of 'Backroom data deals'

      Is this Server-Side data sharing, or can Adblockers help here?

      "Airline Emirates leaks customers' sensitive personal information to third-party marketing partners... After a customer books a flight through Emirates, the process of managing the reservation shares personally identifiable information with over a dozen third-party trackers, including... Facebook, and Google.

      The data includes: customer name, customer email, itinerary, phone number, passport number and details, and brings with it the ability to edit this information.

      Emirates privacy policy makes clear data sharing may occur. But the policy language stops short of declaring a wholesale customer data giveaway / granting the ability to alter reservations.

      Trackers like Facebook and Google Analytics allow companies to track individuals across the internet and potentially to de-anonymize them. The key point here is the user never signed for this, all s/he did was surf the internet."

  2. Mark 85

    The best thing Zuck can do is sell off the company, take the money from the sale and the years of his profits, and run but I don't think his ego will let him do that.

    I doubt that Congress will see through this BS and the regurgitation of the same-old, same-old so nothing will change until the users get clue.

    1. Jim Mitchell

      Zuck already sold the company. The buyers didn't get a dividend, or any meaningful voting rights, but they did buy up at the IPO...

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Same old script...

    ... the issue is too many people will still swallow it - and let the shark keep on swallowing user data at will.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Singapore shows what the "F" in Facebook means

    Here's hoping Zuk gets his ass handed to him like this FB lawyer:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h47QSqLp_e0

  5. PhilipN Silver badge

    The Russians!

    Ah yes. Draw the teeth from a rabid assailant by anticipating and diverting an attack before it comes. It was all THEIR fault. We were the nice, helpful guys too innocent to know evil when we saw it.

    The thing to watch for is when Zuck starts saying that new protective measures being worked on are top secret and must be kept that way to derive maximum effect. That will reveal which question by which committee member roasts Zuck's chestnuts.

  6. 101

    I am so, so, so, so, so sorry...but,

    Mr. Z. can apologize up the kazoo because he knows he is untouchable.

    The morons in Congress don't get the internet and have been paid handsomely to stay stupid.

    And, let's recall Google and Facebook DID allow NSA access to data and were in talks to set up 'spying rooms' despite denials by Zuckerberg and Page over PRISM project. But, that's old news now.

  7. Winkypop Silver badge
    Trollface

    Well, technically, we didn't stuff up

    It was our intention all along...we just figured that nobody would care.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Need glasses....

    ....those full stops are small. I misread the quote as "I'm sorry I started Facebook"

  9. fpx
    Trollface

    Shout at me all you want, and I'll pretend to be sorry, but please please don't regulate me. There's no danger of that happening, though. First, Zuck can point to the terms of service which grant them everything they did and more. Second, Politicians lust after the same data, and third, they don't understand the concept of privacy either. Four, Google, Microsoft and Apple lobbyists have Facebook's back. So let's have a Kodak moment and then we'll all go back to our merry ways.

  10. 2Nick3

    ... and using them for a series "hot or not" votes...

    Zuck: "I’m not willing to risk insulting anyone."

    Like by labeling them as "not or not"?

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