Facebook CEO Zuckerberg Backed Sharing Customer Data

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg questioned the business case for giving millions of outside software developers wide access to customer data before endorsing the practice in 2012, according to internal emails recently published.

The decision made it possible for a quiz app to gather data on about 87 million Facebook users the following year, and later share the information with the now-defunct British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, which worked on Donald Trumps' presidential campaign.

Zuckerberg lamented his choice in a Facebook post on Wednesday 5th December, saying that cracking down a year earlier could have helped the company avoid a privacy scandal that has tarred its reputation.

The CEO's 2012 emails, obtained by a British government panel investigating Facebook, provide an unusual window into the internal deliberations over the critical strategic question of how much customer data the social network should share.
Facebook had recently gone public and was counting on third-party apps such as games to help drive growth.

But Zuckerberg questioned whether such apps and the data they sent back to Facebook were producing sufficient increases in usage and revenue.

"In theory, we want information, but are the posts developers are giving us actually valuable?" Zuckerberg wrote in response to a lengthy email from a lieutenant. "They don't seem to be for targeting (content) and I doubt they drive meaningful increases in engagement either."

A proposed alternative was charging apps for access to Facebook user data, though such a move would have likely limited the number of apps that worked with Facebook, Zuckerberg wrote in one message. 

Facebook stayed the course, with Zuckerberg rejecting fees in late 2012.

"The purpose of the platform is to tie the universe of all the social apps together so we can enable a lot more sharing and still remain the central hub," he said in an email to several top executives. "This finds the right balance between ubiquity, reciprocity and profit."

By 2014, Facebook had moved to restrict the free promotion and wide data access from which outside developers benefited. Though the tools and data remained free, they became less valuable to many app makers.
Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Shifting Gears
The deliberations in the late 2012 emails focused on profit rather than privacy. Zuckerberg and senior leaders debated how data-exchange deals with companies like Spotify and Pinterest could generate revenue, believing that Facebook was getting less benefit from the arrangement than its partners.

Zuckerberg loosely proposed the idea of charging apps 10 cents for every user data request, a fee he estimated would cost Spotify and Pinterest about $3 million annually, according to one email.

In another thread, he and Sam Lessin, a director of product management, weighed the consequences. Facebook had "maximized profit" from games integrating with Facebook by charging them a fee, Zuckerberg said.

But charging had led the best games to abandon Facebook's services, Lessin said, and he was "not proud" of those that remained. Lessin did not respond to a request to comment.

Ultimately, Zuckerberg in the emails stuck with the goal he had set when launching the developer tools years earlier: Get people to share more items on Facebook.

In its IPO filing, the company said working with other apps was "key" to increasing usage of Facebook and had improved its ability to personalise news feeds. If Facebook made it easy for more apps to integrate social features, Zuckerberg wrote months later, "we should be able to unlock more sharing in the world and on Facebook."

YeniSafak:

You Might Also Read:

Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg Is 'Tainted' By Crises:

 

 

« Microsoft Tech Support Scam Crackdown - 39 Arrests
Russian Cyber Operations: State-led Organised Crime »

CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

Alvacomm

Alvacomm

Alvacomm offers holistic VIP cybersecurity services, providing comprehensive protection against cyber threats. Our solutions include risk assessment, threat detection, incident response.

IT Governance

IT Governance

IT Governance is a leading global provider of information security solutions. Download our free guide and find out how ISO 27001 can help protect your organisation's information.

North Infosec Testing (North IT)

North Infosec Testing (North IT)

North IT (North Infosec Testing) are an award-winning provider of web, software, and application penetration testing.

ON-DEMAND WEBINAR: What Is A Next-Generation Firewall (and why does it matter)?

ON-DEMAND WEBINAR: What Is A Next-Generation Firewall (and why does it matter)?

Watch this webinar to hear security experts from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and SANS break down the myths and realities of what an NGFW is, how to use one, and what it can do for your security posture.

Resecurity, Inc.

Resecurity, Inc.

Resecurity is a cybersecurity company that delivers a unified platform for endpoint protection, risk management, and cyber threat intelligence.

Global Forum on Cyber Expertise (GFCE)

Global Forum on Cyber Expertise (GFCE)

GFCE is a global platform for countries, international organizations and private companies to exchange best practices and expertise on cyber capacity building.

Cimcor

Cimcor

Cimcor’s flagship software product, CimTrak, helps organizations to monitor and protect a wide range of physical, network and virtual IT assets in real-time.

ClearBlade

ClearBlade

ClearBlade is the Edge Computing software company enabling enterprises to rapidly engineer and run secure, real-time, scalable IoT applications.

Applied Magnetics Laboratory (AML)

Applied Magnetics Laboratory (AML)

Applied Magnetics Laboratory is a manufacturer of military security and data destruction equipment for sensitive, classified, and secret information.

Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CyManII)

Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CyManII)

CyManII was established to create economically viable, pervasive, and inconspicuous cybersecurity in American manufacturing to secure the digital supply chain and energy automation.

Bitfury Group

Bitfury Group

Bitfury Group is the largest full-service blockchain technology company in the world.

Blockchain Research Institute (BRI)

Blockchain Research Institute (BRI)

Blockchain Research Institute (BRI) is an independent, global think-tank. We bring together the world’s top global researchers to undertake ground-breaking research on blockchain technology.

THEC-Incubator

THEC-Incubator

THEC-Incubator program is designed for international and ambitious tech startups in the Netherlands. Areas of focus include Blockchain and Cyber Security.

Deepnet Security

Deepnet Security

Deepnet Security is a leading vendor in Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and Identity & Access Management (IAM).

SDG Corp

SDG Corp

SDG is a global cybersecurity, identity governance, risk consulting and advisory firm, addressing complex security, compliance and technology needs.

Akito

Akito

Akito was set up to become a point of reference in the ICT market for issues related to Security and in particular Cyber Security.

RankedRight

RankedRight

RankedRight empowers security teams to take immediate action on their most critical risks.

Action Fraud

Action Fraud

Action Fraud is the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime where you should report fraud if you have been scammed, defrauded or experienced cyber crime.

Buguard

Buguard

Buguard is a multi-award-winning supplier of Application Security Assessments and GRC services.

RapidSpike

RapidSpike

RapidSpike is the only website monitoring solution that focuses all three key aspects of website health: performance, reliability AND security.

Anetac

Anetac

Developed by seasoned cybersecurity experts, the Anetac Identity and Security Platform protects threat surface exploited via service accounts.