AG expresses privacy, data collection concerns in letter to Facebook

PHOENIX — Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich wrote a letter to Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday that urged Zuckerberg to lead the charge of increased user privacy on its platform.

“The time for a change has come, and I write in part to request that you personally lead a transformation in the online privacy perspective for all companies who deal in the collection and distribution of personal information,” Brnovich wrote. “The new model should begin with a presumption of privacy.” 

Brnovich also had a list of questions for Zuckerberg about Facebook’s policies on third-party acquisition of user information, including how the policy has changed over the years and how it is different for users under 18.

“I have raised concerns over the past several years about the amount of personal data that is collected and stored online without meaningfully informed consumer consent,” Brnovich wrote.

“While this issue pervades the technology sector as a whole, recent revelations of Facebook’s past user privacy practices prove the validity of my concerns,” he said.

The letter came after news that Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm which had ties with former Trump campaign strategist Steve Bannon, had gathered information from over 50 million Facebook profiles.

The Trump campaign had used the information to help create its campaign strategy.

Reports this week indicated that Zuckerberg planned to testify before Congress about how his company collected and used people’s data. The news came after a House committee called for the Facebook founder to testify last week.

While nothing is confirmed, a spokeswoman for the House Energy and Commerce Committee said Tuesday that the committee is working with Facebook to determine a day and time for Zuckerberg to testify.

This would be the first time that Zuckerberg has testified before Congress. Last fall, the company sent its top lawyer to testify before Congress about Russian interference in the 2016 election.