MP Zimmer Challenges Facebook To Do More To Protect Canadians’ Privacy

OTTAWA – “I as chair and we as a committee don’t take lightly the fact that Mr. Zuckerberg declined to appear,” said Bob Zimmer, Member of Parliament for Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies and Chair of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, reprimanding Facebook executives for CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s decision not to testify before the committee.

Kevin Chan, Head of Public Policy for Facebook Canada, and Robert Sherman, Deputy Chief Privacy Officer for Facebook Inc., testified as part of the committee’s study on a breach of personal information involving Cambridge Analytica and Facebook.

Mr. Zimmer challenged Facebook to do more to protect Canadians’ privacy after hearing that of the 23 million Canadians who use Facebook, over 600,000 had their data compromised.

“As chair of the committee, I think we’ve all appreciated the good parts of Facebook in connecting with loved ones and connecting with voters on a daily basis. I check Facebook regularly for my news,” said Mr. Zimmer. “Yet we task you with a deep responsibility of keeping Canadians’ data safe. I think this is one thing that is unique about this committee is that all parties are committed to do what we need to do to ensure that you keep Canadians’ data safe.”

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