State AGs demand details on Facebook’s privacy safeguards

(Undated) — There are still lots of unresolved questions following reports earlier this month that data collection firm Cambridge Analytica improperly gained access to millions of Facebook users’ personal data.

State Attorney General Josh Shapiro says he and 36 fellow state attorneys general would address that doubt head on.

The group sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, asking what safeguards Facebook had in place to protect users from potential privacy violations, as well as what other third parties might have accessed user data.

Shapiro said the bipartisan coalition is trying to get a handle on the situation, which officials estimate affected as many as 50 million Facebook users. Cambridge Analytica worked on President Trump’s campaign in 2016.

Shapiro, a Democrat, said his focus isn’t politics but consumer protection.

“How well your personal information is protected,” he said, “and to determine whether or not there are other examples where other entities, other third party apps were given the keys to the warehouse and told, ‘Go take what you want.’”

Though initially quiet, Zuckerburg spoke to CNN Wednesday. He said Facebook would investigate all apps that harvested large amounts of user data around 2014 and implement policies to prevent future abuses, according to NPR. He also apologized, and said he’s open to regulation