AROUND 45,000 Irish users have been caught up in the Facebook scandal as it is revealed that up to 87 million users worldwide have had their data improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica.
Facebook’s chief technology officer Mike Schroepfer made the admission as the company aims to restrict the personal data available to third-party apps in light of the data breach.
Most of the 87 million affected by the scandal were US-based, while around 1 million are estimated to be in the UK.
Facebook told RTE News that while just 15 users in Ireland had downloaded the personality quiz app, thisisyourdigitallife, up to 44,687 users may have been friends with those who had downloaded the app and subsequently may have had their data collected.
Speaking to reporters in a rare conference call last night, company founder Mark Zuckerburg admitted again that he had made mistakes, but said he remains the best person to lead the company.
He admitted that the company; “didn’t take a broad enough view of what our responsibility is. That was a huge mistake. It was my mistake”.
Asked if he still thought he was the best person to lead the company forward, Zuckerberg said: “I think life is about learning from your mistakes and working out what you need to do to move forward.”
“When you’re building something like Facebook that is unprecedented in the world there are going to be things you mess up.”
On Monday, all Facebook users will receive a notice on their feeds with a link to see what apps they use and what information they have shared with those apps.
Users who might have been vulnerable to having their data shared with Cambridge Analytica will be informed of that.
