Facebook CEO apologizes to EU lawmakers over Cambridge Analytica data scandal

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been grilled by European lawmakers over the social network's massive data leak scandal involving British consultancy Cambridge Analytica. Cambridge Analytica is accused of improperly obtaining personal data of 87 million Facebook users, including nearly three million in Europe. Ro Aram reports. Zuckerberg's apologetic remarks on Tuesday in front of EU officials in Brussels was mostly the same of what we saw last month when he testified before the U.S. Congress.In his opening remarks, he admitted Facebook hadn't done enough to stop the breach of users' data. "But it's also become clear over the last couple of years that we haven't done enough to prevent these tools from being used for harm as well, and that goes for fake news, foreign interference in elections and developers misusing people's information. We didn't take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a mistake and I'm sorry for it. "He also outlined measures Facebook was taking in order to tackle the problem. "We are doubling the number of people working on safety and security at our company to more than 20,000 by the end of this year. On top of the investments that we're making in other areas, I expect that these increased investments in security will significantly impact our profitability. But I want to be clear; keeping people safe will always be more important than maximising our profits."However, the EU officials were not happy with Zuckerberg's answers, accusing him of dodging their questions. "….And of course we got no answers because every time we ask specific questions, Mr Zuckerberg tries to escape. He wants to be left alone as much as possible and he wants us to let him cash the profit of his monopoly…." Zuckerberg later tweeted that his firm would provide more detailed answers in writing if the EU so wished. The CEO's appearance in Brussels comes three days before tough new EU rules on data protection take effect.Ro Aram, Arirang News.