Facebook terminates connections to data dealers

As part of the data scandal surrounding the analysis company Cambridge Analytica Facebook ends its business relationships with various data dealers.

Facebook is under great pressure from its users to do more for data security.

Most recently, the company's stock fell 17 percent.

After the data scandal, Facebook wants to end its collaboration with several major data dealers. This should help to improve the privacy of users on Facebook, the company said on Wednesday evening.

The project should be implemented within six months. Among other things, the cooperation with the companies WPP, Experian, Transunion and Acxiom will be terminated. Facebook did not want to comment on whether this would affect the ad sales of the group. Shares of Acxiom lost about ten percent after the announcement.

Facebook is under strong pressure

The company recently repeatedly apologized for the fact that UK analyst firm Cambridge Analytica was able to use data from 50 million Facebook users in a supposedly unfair way to support US President Donald Trump's election campaign. Since this became known for the first time just two weeks ago, the share price of the Group fell by around 17 percent. The scandal fuels the concern that advertisers are turning away from Facebook and the authorities are tightening up their data usage.

On Wednesday, Facebook had already communicated to give users more control over their own information and also to simplify the management of the settings. In addition, an update of the data guidelines is planned. It will be possible to activate additional security features for the account as well as to check what has been shared and if necessary to delete it. This could also be the search history. At the same time, everyone should be able to decide for themselves which advertisements are displayed.

US MPs have invited Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to answer questions in Congress. According to insiders, he wants to speak there personally. He wants to send a representative to a similar summons to a committee of the British Parliament.