Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been asked by a British government committee to answer questions on how exactly the social media giant accesses and holds user data.
The British Digital, Culture, Media and Sports Committee issued a letter to Zuckerberg on Tuesday, saying that it has asked for information from Facebook in the past.
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“Your officials’ answers have consistently understated the risk, and have been misleading to the committee,” the letter, which was tweeted by British MP Damian Collins, read.
“It is now time to hear from a senior Facebook executive with the sufficient authority to give an accurate account of this catastrophic failure of process.”
The letter comes days after it was reported by The New York Times and The Guardian that the private information of more than 50 million users was accessed by a firm which worked on U.S. President Donald Trump’s election campaign. The data scandal was first revealed by a Canadian whistleblower named Christopher Wylie.
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The letter concluded that a response is expected from Zuckerberg by March 26. The committee said Zuckerberg can opt to send another Facebook executive, but it hopes he will show up himself.
Zuckerberg has remained mum amid the backlash, and has not publicly responded to the letter.
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Meanwhile, the head of Britain’s Information Commission is seeking a warrant to search the offices of consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica, which carried out the reported data harvesting.
Canada’s privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien also spoke out in a statement Monday, saying he has “serious privacy concerns.”
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In a statement provided to Global News, the watchdog said that his office will be reaching out to the social media website to seek further information about how Canadians may have been affected.
Therrien also said his office plans on aiding British officials in their investigation.
— With files from Reuters