Zuck and Sandberg Go MIA as Congress Summons FBook Leadership

Zuck and Sandberg Go MIA as Congress Summons FBook Leadership
https://techcrunch.com/2018/03/20/zuckerberg-and-sandberg-mia-facebook-congress-is-like-wtf/

Facebook is an uncomfortable position - and they don't know how to respond.  After revealing that Cambridge Analytica had mishandled the data of 50 million plus users, Facebook dropped the ball on how to handle the mishandling.  What is interesting about this article is not the handling or mishandling of Cambridge Analytica, but the potential for regulation around user data and digital marketing.  As evidenced by the EU's implementation of GDPR, users are no longer comfortable accepting that the price of free tech is their personal information.  Companies are acquiring an absurd amount of data on users and do not have the systems or policies in place to manage this power.  

It took the auto industry over 50 years before seatbelts became a law.  Facebook has now operated for over a decade and a half largely unregulated.  In previous periods of innovation, it was believable that the cycle between the innovation and the regulation were longer.  Congress isn't going to let Facebook sit out any longer. 

With regulation, Facebook is going to have to reevaluate their business model.  If brands can't access user data to target hyper-specific ads, their WTP is going to decline significantly.  Facebook has already removed some of the power of brands, and regulation is only going to continue to accelerate the decline of digital spend.  It's no wonder that Zuck has sold more Fbook stock in the past three months than any insider at any other company.