Lawmakers made it clear that they are skeptical that Facebook should be trusted with the tremendous power it has amassed over 2.7 billion global users.
The software can scan footage including from closed-circuit television to automatically match faces and license plates to a police database and pick out suspects in a crowd.
The startup sells tools aimed at helping those companies organize their data, and uses artificial intelligence to enable them to understand and search for information.
The breach was done by “exploiting a vulnerability of one of our server providers, which hadn’t been disclosed to us,” according to the company’s statement.
Facebook said the “coordinated inauthentic behavior” took aim at the U.S., North Africa and Latin America and included “proactive work ahead of the U.S. elections.”
U.S. lawmakers from both parties slammed Apple Inc. and Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook on Friday for “censorship of apps” at the “behest of the Chinese government.”
Dominant tech companies have gained enormous competitive advantages from data, which deserves special attention from antitrust officials and lawmakers, according to Federal Trade Commissioner Rohit Chopra.
Technology companies that control their own ecosystem can become their own private watchdogs, raising questions about whether they play fair, said Margrethe Vestager, the EU's incoming digital affairs czar.
