US lawmakers on Friday formally asked Facebook Inc's Mark Zuckerberg to explain at a Washington hearing how 50 million users' data got into the hands of political consultancy Cambridge Analytica. This follows allegations by a whistle-blower that British political consultancy Cambridge Analytica improperly accessed users' information to build profiles on American voters that were later used to help elect US President Donald Trump in 2016. A Facebook spokesman confirmed the company had received the letter and was reviewing it, but did not say whether or not Zuckerberg would agree to testify. Zuckerberg said this week he would be willing to testify if he is the right person at the company to speak to lawmakers. Several Democratic US senators are also seeking Zuckerberg's testimony.Facebook executives spent Wednesday and Thursday on Capitol Hill briefing congressional committee staffers.

Source: dna March 23, 2018 17:26 UTC