clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile
We have a request We need 292 more contributions today to hit our goal of adding 2,500 reader gifts in September. Contributions help keep Vox's policy coverage and beyond free. Support quality journalism that's not behind a paywall, Make a contribution today.

Filed under:

  • Stream
2016 Concordia Summit Convenes World Leaders To Discuss The Power Of Partnerships - Day 1

The Cambridge Analytica scandal puts Facebook under scrutiny

The political consulting firm reportedly used personal data secretly harvested from 87 million Facebook users.

Contributors: Vox Staff

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress for five hours Tuesday afternoon at a joint hearing before the Senate Judiciary and Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation committees. He’ll be back on Capitol Hill for another hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday, April 11, at 10 am ET.

Zuckerberg apologized and answered questions about Facebook’s handling of user information and data privacy, among other topics. The appearance comes in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal that left the information of tens of millions of Facebook users exposed and amid enduring questions about how Russia and other groups have used the platform to influence US politics.

The political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica reportedly used personal data harvested from 87 million Facebook users as part of its work on the 2016 Trump election campaign, according to whistleblower Christopher Wylie and others. The revelation raises several ethical and legal concerns about cybersecurity, big data, and privacy, putting the Cambridge and its CEO Alexander Nix, as well as Facebook and Zuckerberg, under intense scrutiny.

50 Total Updates Since
Mar 19, 2018, 11:04am EDT
  • April 11, 2018

    Watch: Congress member challenges Zuckerberg over who gets to define privacy

    By Aja Romano

    Does the government need a bigger role in determining what "personal information" is?

  • April 11, 2018

    Mark Zuckerberg has been apologizing for reckless privacy violations since he was a freshman

    By Matthew Yglesias

    Enough is enough.

  • April 11, 2018

    Zuckerberg won’t commit to making data privacy as easy as possible

    By Aja Romano

    In a tense moment, Zuckerberg balked when Rep. Frank Pallone challenged him with a simple "yes/no" on privacy.

  • April 11, 2018

    Mark Zuckerberg says Cambridge Analytica got his data too

    By Jen Kirby

    During his testimony before a House committee on Wednesday.

  • April 11, 2018

    “It’s pretty much the Wild West”: why we can’t trust Facebook to police itself

    By Sean Illing

    An expert makes the case for regulating big tech companies.

  • April 11, 2018

    How to watch Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony before Congress

    By Emily Stewart and Jen Kirby

    The Facebook CEO is headed to Washington.

  • April 10, 2018

    Lawmakers seem confused about what Facebook does — and how to fix it

    By Emily Stewart

    If lawmakers want to regulate Facebook, they might need to get on the same page about what problem they’re trying to solve.

  • April 10, 2018

    Watch Sen. Graham grill Mark Zuckerberg on whether Facebook is a monopoly

    By Alex Ward

    "If I’m upset with Facebook, what’s the equivalent product that I can go sign up for?"

  • April 10, 2018

    What Mark Zuckerberg will tell Congress about the Facebook scandals

    By Emily Stewart

    "We didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake."

  • April 10, 2018

    What the government could actually do about Facebook

    By Emily Stewart

    As Mark Zuckerberg appears before Congress, a look at what lawmakers can and can’t do about Facebook.

  • April 10, 2018

    9 questions Congress should ask Mark Zuckerberg

    By Emily Stewart

    Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg will appear at hearings in the Senate and House of Representatives to discuss his company’s practices.

  • April 9, 2018

    The case against Facebook

    By Matthew Yglesias

    It’s not just about privacy; its core function makes people lonely and sad.

  • April 6, 2018

    Zuckerberg: Facebook has systems to stop hate speech. Myanmar groups: No, it doesn’t.

    By Jen Kirby

    The social network has fueled ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya.

  • April 5, 2018

    Facebook warns “most users” have had their data harvested by third-party apps

    By Aja Romano

    The company is closing off vulnerable loopholes to third-party apps — including some that seem long overdue.

  • April 4, 2018

    Cambridge Analytica, the shady data firm that might be a key Trump-Russia link, explained

    By Sean Illing

    Why House investigators think this company might have gamed Facebook and helped Russia spread fake news.

  • March 27, 2018

    Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has agreed to testify before Congress on the data breach scandal

    By Zeeshan Aleem

    Congress wants answers from the Facebook CEO on the Cambridge Analytica data breach.

  • March 27, 2018

    Is a social network that doesn’t share user data possible?

    By Christopher Shea

    Remember Ello? Once deemed a "Facebook killer," it’s plugging away on a smaller scale.

  • March 26, 2018

    Cambridge Analytica’s “psychographic microtargeting”: what’s bullshit and what’s legit

    By Brian Resnick

    There’s no good evidence yet that personality profiling can influence elections.

  • March 25, 2018

    Corey Lewandowski says Trump might not replace his chief of staff, John Kelly, if he leaves

    By Alexia Fernández Campbell

    The president’s former campaign manager says Trump is more comfortable managing his own staff.

  • March 23, 2018

    Elon Musk deletes the Facebook pages for Tesla and SpaceX

    By Aja Romano

    The tech guru chipped into the anti-Facebook conversation by deleting pages he hadn’t known existed.

  • March 21, 2018

    Cambridge Analytiwhaaaa?

    By Julie Bogen

    Everything you need to know about the Cambridge Analytica scandal, explained in a podcast.

  • March 21, 2018

    Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook “made mistakes” on the Cambridge Analytica scandal. He’s not apologizing.

    By Emily Stewart

    It took Zuckerberg five days to discuss the misuse of 50 million people’s personal information.

  • March 20, 2018

    The Facebook data breach wasn’t a hack. It was a wake-up call.

    By Aja Romano

    Facebook expected its user data to be harvested. It just didn’t expect Cambridge Analytica to do it millions of times.

  • March 20, 2018

    Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica crisis keeps growing

    By Emily Stewart

    The FTC is investigating. Congress wants to know what happened. And Facebook’s stock is plummeting.

  • March 19, 2018

    Banks have to know their customers. Shouldn’t Facebook and Twitter?

    By Emily Stewart

    Banks have a lot of regulatory oversight. The tech industry doesn’t.

Sign up for the newsletter Sign up for Vox Recommends

Get curated picks of the best Vox journalism to read, watch, and listen to every week, from our editors.