Facebook facing user and lawmaker scrutiny over data use

MENLO PARK, Calif. (KGO) -- Facebook is facing strong headwinds as investors continue to hammer the stock and as #deletefacebook is trending on social media.

"I imagine that users voting with their own feet is what the company is the most concerned about," said Ann Skeet, a senior director at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.

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She says Facebook can expect scrutiny by its 1.4 billion daily users and by lawmakers. "As consumers get savvier about that and legislators get more interested, I think both the regulatory market and the consumer market will reign them in."

Daphne Keller, a specialist in corporate liability and responsibility at Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society, says Facebook could face private lawsuits over privacy.

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Facebook also is facing an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission over a 2011 settlement over sharing user data without the user's consent and a separate investigation by European authorities.

California's senior Senator Dianne Feinstein said, "Facebook should have had a way of verifying everything and not being sloppy about it, and apparently they didn't do that. So we'll have to find out why."

Facebook told ABC7 News that its legal and policy staff is cooperating at briefings by lawmakers on Capitol Hill. It's believed that CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg are intentionally not saying anything publicly.

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