MPs unsatisfied with Facebook testimony, mull further regulations

OTTAWA — Testimony from Facebook Inc. representatives at the House ethics committee Thursday left some MPs frustrated by answers to a range of issues, including the kind of information scraped off the platform, and pondering next steps for possible legislation. “I’m not particularly comforted that they’re looking out for the privacy of Canadians,” vice-chair of the committee, Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, told media following the meeting. “Particularly when you ask questions about what is the most sensitive information that would’ve been shared without users’ consent.” The Liberal MP was referring to a couple of moments during Thursday’s appearance — as part of its study of the breach of personal information involving Cambridge Analytica and Facebook — with Facebook Canada’s head of public policy Kevin Chan and Robert Sherman, deputy chief privacy officer at Facebook out in California. It took some prying before Sherman, who appeared via videoconference, said “it is possible that private messages were shared in small amounts,” as part of the data collected by Cambridge Analytica. Initially, however, Sherman limited his answers to the sharing of sensitive information involving such things as “likes” on the platform. But when pressed by Erskine-Smith about whether private messages could have been shared given the evidence in front of him, he said “I believe it’s possible, but I think it’s something we need to confirm.” The MP said he also received information that posts and timelines may also have been implicated, but did not get a straight answer for that. “I don’t think they were as honest in there as they should’ve been,” he told reporters, adding the committee may even have Chan and Sherman back after hearing other witnesses. In late February, the committee released recommendations to strengthen the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), including making consent the guiding principle of the privacy law. Sherman said there is “a lot” in the report that is worth considering. Following Thursday’s testimony, Erskine-Smith told reporters “it may well be that we need to revisit that conversation and update it in light of Facebook’s testimony and the testimony we hear from others, but I think if our recommendations from our report were adopted, it would go a long way to addressing some of these concerns.” On Tuesday, the committee hosted privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien and a data breach specialist named Chris Vickery to kick off the data breach study. During that testimony, Vickery unveiled that his company UpGuard found another Facebook-related breach that involved around 48 million records, compiled by a data search company called LocalBlox. Vickery implored the committee and the privacy commissioner to investigate the matter. According to a blog post on UpGuard’s website, the information that included names, physical addresses, dates of birth and other data from Facebook, Twitter Inc. and Microsoft Corp.’s LinkedIn was used to build a “three-dimensional picture” of the users. That profile could be used for identity theft, fraud, and social engineering scams like phishing, the post said. The LocalBlox case was raised by Erskine-Smith Thursday. The MP appeared displeased that the witnesses did not raise the case on their own accord, instead only talking about it when he brought it up. He said it was “curious” that they wouldn’t, considering they say they are being “open and honest.” Sherman said the company is aware of LocalBlox, to which he referred to as just “a party” earlier in his testimony. He said what that company did was a violation of their policies. He added Facebook has taken some steps, but needs to take more, to address those kinds of actions. “It’s certainly a possibility that there are other instances out there and it’s incumbent upon us to do the work to understand those and mitigate them,” Sherman said. Facebook representatives pushed the narrative that they did not take a “broad enough view of our responsibility” and that now, they are proactively addressing the issues related to these data concerns. That includes implementing artificial intelligence tools to remove bad actors from its platform. Chan pointed to how fast the company has been moving to address the issues in the past couple of weeks as an indication of its seriousness. But NDP ethics critic Charlie Angus, who is already an outspoken critic of Facebook, didn’t appear too pleased. He told reporters following the meeting that Facebook’s self-regulation has been “pitiful” and suggested they don’t respect domestic laws. “I think there needs to be some kind of outside auditor, who has the power to go in and ensure that Facebook is starting to take these issues seriously,” he said of issues including Facebook’s impact on elections, and its dominant position in media dissemination and the lack of competition with the global platform. The ethics committee report recommends giving the privacy commissioner broader audit and order-making powers and the ability to issue fines. Angus told reporters that Therrien, at the very least, could be given the power to audit Facebook at any time to make sure they are complying with the privacy law, though he said that wouldn’t necessarily address all the issues around the platform. Inside the room, Chan did not give a direct answer to the auditor suggestion, but said his company has worked closely with appropriate officials, including the privacy commissioner. Angus set the tone for his line of questioning by pointing to newspaper reports Thursday that say Facebook is migrating users outside the United States, Canada and the European Union — about 1.5 billion users — away from its international headquarters in Ireland to its offices in California to avoid the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regulations, set to come into effect next month. The rules will make companies who are offside of the stricter data protection laws, which takes a hard stance on the need for consent, liable for fines of up to four per cent of their global revenues. Angus said he “found it kind of shocking” that the witnesses weren’t aware of the migration away from Facebook Ireland. “They have to commit to putting the European data protection policy around the world for everyone — clear, no ambiguities,” Angus told reporters. Sherman said Facebook has built a number of privacy control settings ahead of the GDPR. “We asked straightforward questions about Facebook’s response, and we got prevarications one after another,” Angus said. “We’re talking about the power of a corporation to upend democratic elections; after what I heard today, I certainly don’t trust them. They need to come with some better explanations or we need to look at regulation.” The NDP MP, who was among a trio that asked for a parliamentary inquiry into the Facebook controversy, also expressed dismay that Chan isn’t registered to lobby, despite his interactions with government. Chan said that he, at no time, came close to the threshold of activity to register, which is 20 per cent of work activity, but he said Facebook will take Angus’ suggestion “under advisement.” Facebook has five consultant lobbyists on retainer. During testimony, Erskine-Smith asked the witnesses if it’s “fair to say that in building up the trust of your users, it’s incredibly important, perhaps most important, to be as open and honest as possible — is that fair?” Both witnesses responded in the affirmative. Chan ignored reporters’ questions as he left, leaving the Liberal MP visibly confused. — With reporting by Ahmad Hathout at ahathout@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

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MPs unsatisfied with Facebook testimony, mull further regulations

Broadcast | April 19, 2018

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