Reports of Facebook data misuse spurs calls for regulation, scrutiny of social media firms

The Facebook logo is displayed on an iPad. WASHINGTON -- Revelations that a political data firm may have gained access to the personal information of as many as 50 million Facebook users drew new calls on Capitol Hill on Monday for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and the heads of other social media companies to testify before Congress about the possible privacy breach. Two members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Democrat Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Republican John Kennedy of Louisiana, asked Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa., to hold a hearing so senators can publicly grill the CEOs. "Facebook, Google, and Twitter have amassed unprecedented amounts of personal data and use this data when selling advertising, including political advertisements," the senators wrote in a letter to Grassley. "The lack of oversight on how data is stored and how political advertisements are sold raises concerns about the integrity of American elections as well as privacy rights." The congressional calls for additional scrutiny come after Facebook on Friday confirmed that it had suspended a data analytics firm, Cambridge Analytica, from operating on its platforms as it investigated whether the firm failed to delete information that Cambridge Analytica had received through an academic researcher.