Shawn GriffithsThe testimony of Mark Zuckerberg on privacy protections and data collection on Facebook in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal will likely be the most watched and closely analyzed hearing of the year. People on all sides of the political spectrum have weighed in over social media in droves.
There are many aspects of the hearing that are getting the most attention: Many senators' lack of knowledge of Facebook and perplexing questions, Mark Zuckerberg's at times contradictory statements, the joke that the whole thing turned into online, and more.
However, there is one response that will likely get overlooked by most media outlets.
https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/983801604519407616
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) asked Zuckerberg about whether or not Facebook tracks user activity after they log off Facebook.
"There have been reports that Facebook can tracks a user's internet browsing activity even after that user has logged off of the Facebook platform," said Senator Wicker. "Can you confirm whether or not this is true?"
Zuckerberg didn't really seem like he wanted to talk about this.
https://twitter.com/MashableNews/status/983797210759348224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2F2018%2F04%2F10%2Fmark-zuckerberg-testimony-tracking-users%2F&tfw_creator=mashable&tfw_site=mashable
Zuckerberg said he would have his team follow up with the senator, but Wicker pressed the issue.
"You don't know?" Wicker asked.
"I know that people use cookies on the internet, and that you can probably correlate activity between, um, between sessions," responded Zuckerberg. "We do that for a number of reasons, including security and including measuring ads to make sure that the ad experiences are the most effective."
Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden's response to commentary that Zuckerberg dodged this question was, "And they call me a criminal."
That wasn't the only tweet, either:
Before you read or watch Facebook's CEO testifying today, you need to read this. He's not sorry: every activity we've seen from this company is part of the same unbroken strategy of deception. https://t.co/DF426R7gNaApril 10, 2018
In case you were wondering why Congress today is treating Facebook's CEO like an old friend rather than grilling him (they didn't even require him to be sworn in): https://t.co/ZLOVIVUo18April 10, 2018
But Snowden wasn't just critical of Zuckerberg and Facebook. He also RTed commentary that points out the apparent hypocrisy of some senators who all of a sudden are concerned about consumer privacy and data protection:
https://twitter.com/EmmaVigeland/status/983784314918891522
Called a heroic whistle-blower by some and a criminal traitor by others, Edward Snowden has resided in Russia since 2013 after he leaked information on mass surveillance and data collection programs conducted by the US intelligence community -- specifically the NSA.
The Justice Department charged Snowden with violating the Espionage Act in June 2013 for these leaks.