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Facebook—Even as it Apologizes for Scandal—Funds Campaign to Block a California Data-privacy Measure | CalMatters

Just a few weeks before Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized for the “breach of trust” that allowed Cambridge Analytica to access the private social media activity of 50 million people, Facebook plunked down $200,000 to fight a data privacy initiative in California.

The social media giant’s donation matched others from Google, AT&T, Comcast and Verizon—a million-dollar sign that the issue of how companies collect and share personal information is likely to grow into an expensive fight as election season unfolds in California.

The businesses are fighting an initiative proposed by San Francisco real estate developer Alastair Mactaggart, who’s already spent $1.7 million on a measure that would allow Californians to prohibit companies from selling or sharing their personal data. His campaign is gathering signatures with the goal of landing the California Consumer Privacy Act on the November ballot.

Facebook—Even as it Apologizes for Scandal—Funds Campaign to Block a California Data-privacy Measure | CalMatters