Mozilla: Facebook Data Leak Is Like A 'Nuclear Waste Spill'

Mozilla is best known as the maker of web browser Firefox, but the organization also has a philanthropic function. As part of that function, Mozilla has compiled a massive, graphic-laden assessment of the internet itself, dubbed the Internet Health Report 2018.

- Dan Costa

I sat down with Mozilla’s Executive Director Mark Surman to discuss some of the report’s key findings, including the scourge of fake news, consolidation of industry power, and how leaked data should be treated a “nuclear waste.”

“If you look at the headlines, it looks like we are having a pretty bad year for the internet,” Surman says. “On the question of data protection and the problem with the centralization of power in the hands of just a few tech companies, this is not a healthy place.”

Most consumers don’t understand the nuances of what Cambridge Analytica did. In a nutshell, a lot of data was collected using survey tools that were valid at the time, Surman explains.