Protestors 'dislike' Facebook at company headquarters

ByCarlos Saucedo KGO logo
Friday, April 6, 2018
Protestors 'dislike' Facebook at company headquarters
More fallout from Facebook, which now says tens of millions more users may have had their personal information shared with a political consulting firm.

MENLO PARK, Calif. -- More fallout from Facebook, which now says tens of millions more users may have had their personal information shared with a political consulting firm.

This as some users took their protests right to Facebook Headquarters in Menlo Park Thursday afternoon.

"Zucker can't be trusted, oversight, oversight," chanted a handful of protesters outside the Facebook "like" sign.

Members with the "Raging Grannies Action League" showed up with signs critical of Mark Zuckerberg.

"We want to stand up and let people know that all demographics are affected by this, including people my age," said protestor, Maggie Maleney.

The group is demanding greater online protection and privacy for users of the social media giant.

"This is new territory. Our privacy is easily accessed and we need to know what's going on," said fellow demonstrator Ruth Robertson.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced changes to protect users' privacy, taking personal responsibility over the latest fallout.

"We didn't take a broad enough view of what our responsibility is. And that was a huge mistake, and it was my mistake," Zuckerberg is heard telling a group of reporters.

As many as 87 million people may have had their information improperly shared with political consulting firm, Cambridge Analytica - that's more than the 50 million first thought.

The firm denies that, saying it licensed data for no more than 30 million -- and none of it was used in the work it did on the 2016 U.S. presidential election..

Still, the number of people compromised too high for online privacy watchdogs.

There needs to be very clear processes involved when information is collected. It shouldn't be by default that their information is shared," said Nathan Sheard with Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Starting Monday, Facebook will provide a link at the top of users' newsfeeds so they can check if their information was shared. It will also announce other steps towards overhauling security.

I think it's a start. I think there needs to be more oversight," said Maleny.

Zuckerberg is expected to testify about the scandal at a congressional hearing in Washington D.C. next week.