WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, today sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The letter comes after Zuckerberg evaded questions from Fischer about Facebook’s collection of personal data from users at a Senate hearing yesterday.

Zuckerberg’s failure to answer Fischer’s questions was surprising, as Facebook’s collection of sensitive personal data categories – such as a user’s health, political orientation, or religious beliefs – was a key issue in the European Union’s debate on data privacy.

A PDF of Fischer’s letter to Zuckerberg is available here. The full text of the letter is below.

Dear Mr. Zuckerberg,

To make important decisions about their privacy, Facebook users need a clear understanding of the breadth of personal data that Facebook collects, stores, and utilizes for advertising purposes. I was troubled that you refused to answer my questions on this issue when you testified before the Senate Commerce Committee on April 10, 2018. Your repeated attempts to undermine my usage of “categories” as a descriptor was particularly baffling, given that this verbiage has been used by others in discussing these matters. Further, the scope of personal data collection was at the core of the debate in recent years in the European Union on data privacy.

An academic study published at the Charles II University of Madrid in February 2018 examined the frequency with which Facebook collected, stored, and processed sensitive categories of personal data for advertising purposes. These categories included, for example, a person’s health, political orientation, or religious beliefs. As you know, the upcoming European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will significantly restrict the use of such sensitive categories of personal data.

A Washington Post article published in August 2016 discussed at least ninety-eight personal data points that Facebook uses to target ads to users. In the intervening years, public concern has only increased as the attributes advertisers are interested in using has exploded. I had hoped my questions would give you an opportunity to further clarify this critical issue. Americans are asking for a public dialogue about the purposes for which Facebook uses their personal data; but a meaningful conversation cannot happen until users also understand the sources from which their data is gleaned and the specific data — which characteristics, attributes, labels, or categories of data points — are being collected and utilized.

To address these concerns, please provide answers to the following questions:

How many categories (i.e. attributes, factors, labels, or data points) does Facebook collect about particular users?

How many categories, as the term is described above, are used to construct the digital profiles that Facebook utilizes to direct ads to particular users?

If a user opts out of directed advertising, does Facebook halt collection of all such data?

If a user opts out of directed advertising, does Facebook delete all such data that was previously stored? Alternatively, does Facebook instead simply stop utilization of that data for directed advertising purposes?

When users download their Facebook data, as Facebook has recently enabled, is all ad targeting data included in that file?

I appreciate the opportunity to continue this conversation and look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Deb Fischer