There is no question that Facebook is one of largest social networking sites in the world. With over two billion active monthly users and over seven billion pieces of content shared daily by around 1.4 billion users we have never been more interconnected than any point in human history. However, there are many issues that the site faces, from fake news, online harassment, to fake accounts. But the largest of these issues is the lack of protection towards your privacy.

 

There is no question that Facebook can’t protect every single users privacy from being leaked, but it can stop privately held companies from paying Facebook to acquire private information. However, it seems that this fear has become a reality. Over the weekend publications such as The Observer and The New York Times revealed information that the privately held company Cambridge Analytica which offers services to businesses and political parties purchased information on over 50 million Facebook users. Which to my surprise was completely legal under Facebook's policy. The political data firm targeted users during the 2016 presidential election in an attempt to persuade possible voters in favor of the Trump campaign.

 

To no surprise, the firm leans primarily conservative. Founders of the company include former Trump aide Steve Bannon and conservative donor Robert Mercer. Now whether the firm's actions had any outcome on the election are only up for speculation at this point, but our main focus is on the issue of Facebook's infringement on the rights of their user's privacy. When this information broke publically there was a harsh reaction to the markets, to say the least, Monday morning. By the end of the trading day, Facebook’s stock dropped by almost 7 percent. This reaction caused stock market indexes such as the Dow Jones to drop by more than 335 points and other U.S. stock indexes to fall by more than 1 percent. This major upset has forced Facebook to request Cambridge Analytica to be put under an audit and a possible investigation on its ties to the Trump campaign. So what’s next for Facebook’s founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg?

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So far the in the wake of this news the price of his stock ownership in the company dropped by over 5 billion, which dropped his net worth to under 70 Billion. And yet Zuckerberg has stayed primarily quiet on the matter. His best legal option at the moment is to testify in front of Congress about Facebook’s role in the 2016 elections and why he believes existing privacy laws are adequate to protect Americans from misuse and abuse of technology platforms. Whether or not Zuckerberg testifies in front of Congress or not the social media site has taken a serious blow. It’s now up for investors to decide if Facebook is still a viable investment and if users are willing to use the site or go to another competitor. Next time you wake up in the morning and check your Facebook page, you may want to rethink how private your information really is.