- Admits Facebook did not do enough to protect its users
Facebook seems to be the most popular social site on Tuesday as founder Mark Zuckerberg testified before the Commerce and Judiciary Committee of the U.S. Senate about its privacy practices in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica data breach. Zuckerberg took personal responsibility for the data breach during opening remarks delivered to a rare joint hearing of 44 senators from the Senate commerce and judiciary committees.
The company which posted its largest single-day percentage gain in two years on Tuesday unveiled sweeping changes to its data practices in recent days after reports that the British analytics firm misused the personal data of as many as 87 million users.
Addressing the committee he said, “We didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake,” Zuckerberg said. “And it was my mistake, and I’m sorry. I started Facebook, I run it, and I’m responsible for what happens here.”
Facebook shares rose 4.5% to $165.04 at Tuesday’s close, marking the largest percentage gain since April 28, 2016.
The stock is still down more than 10% since mid-March, when questions about the misuse of data first arose, and has sank 6.47% so far this year.
The stock surge came amid a strong day of trading in U.S. markets, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising more than 400 points.
The California-based company began earlier this week to alert users whose data was compromised. Zuckerberg is also expected to testify before a House committee on Wednesday.
