Facebook says it should have audited Cambridge Analytica

Cambridge Analytica’s audit is still on hold but Facebook says that it’s using other practices to check third-party’s access to user data.

Facebook realises that the company should have audited Cambridge Analytica when they first received the legal confirmation. (AFP)

Facebook's No. 2 executive says the company should have conducted an audit after learning that a political consultancy improperly accessed user data nearly three years ago.

Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg told NBC's "Today" show that at the time, Facebook received legal assurances that Cambridge Analytica had deleted the improperly obtained information.

The audit of Cambridge Analytica is on hold, in deference to a UK investigation. But Facebook has been conducting a broader review of its own practices and how other third-party apps use data.

Sandberg also told NBC that if users were able to opt out of being shown ads, "at the highest level, that would be a paid product." This does not mean the company is planning to let users do this.

Zuckerberg has made similar statements in the past, but has added that Facebook remains committed to offering a free service paid for by advertising. Facebook users can opt out of seeing targeted ads, but can't shut off ads altogether. Neither can they opt entirely out of Facebook's data collection.

The company is facing a global backlash over the improper data-sharing scandal. Hearings over the issue are scheduled in the US, and the European Union is considering what actions to take against the company.

Sandberg gave several interviews this week as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg prepares to testify before Congress next week. The company is also facing an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission in what's become its worst privacy crisis in its 14-year history.

It started with revelations that Cambridge Analytica, a data-mining firm, improperly accessed the private information of tens of millions of users to try to influence elections around the world. by "malicious actors" it did not name.