Josh Hawley Launches Privacy Probe Into Facebook

Josh Hawley, Missouri’s attorney general, launched a probe into Facebook’s handling of their user’s private information.

“As the chief law enforcement officer in the state, I will pursue those who mishandle the private information of Missourians,” Hawley, who hopes to challenge Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) in the 2018 Senate midterm election, declared in a statement on Monday.

Hawley launched a civil investigative demand on Monday, asking Facebook to disclose the number of times the social media giant shared private user data with a political campaign, or political action committee (PAC). The probe also hopes to find out how many times those political organizations paid Facebook for private data, and Facebook notified users about their potential disclosure of personal data.

Facebook’s reputation plummeted after reports revealed that the data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica used the social media platform to gain access to the personal data of more than 50 million users. A recent Reuters poll suggests that only 41 percent of consumers trust Facebook to comply with American privacy laws.

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg will testify before Congress in the coming weeks; parliaments across Europe have also asked Zuckerberg to testify as well.

Zuckerberg argued in a podcast with Vox on Monday that it will take a “few years” to solve the privacy issues facing Facebook.

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