Facebook users left reviewing relationship with social media giant in wake of Cambridge Analytica scandal

Some 50 million Facebook users are alleged to have had their details used. Credit: ITV News

Facebook users have been left reviewing their relationship with the social media giant in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica (CA) scandal.

It is alleged that 50 million users of the social media giant had their personal details harvested by CA, which were then said to have been used in elections and political campaign.

The British firm denies any wrongdoing.

Facebook has seen billions of dollars wiped off its market value following the scandal, but buying back users' trust may take longer than regaining the cash.

Social media is all about perception, and many Facebook users seem shocked by the recent revelations, leading many people to review their relationship with the site.

"If I like something, and now that information is being sold for nefarious purposes like this, I won't like that," one Facebook user told ITV News.

Another user said that she would no longer be posting on her account.

Another user told ITV News she would delete her account.

However, many executives in Silicon Valley are reported to be questioning why social media users are so surprised that their details were allegedly used.

They are said to be left wondering why people assumed that social media would come for free, arguing instead that users pay for it by allowing organisations to learn about and profile them, allowing advertisers to target them better.

One woman told ITV News she would delete her personal Facebook account in the wake of the scandal. Credit: ITV News

On Wednesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said it was "clearly a mistake" to trust CA when Facebook asked the firm to delete tens of millions of users' data.

In an interview with CNN Mr Zuckerberg apologised to users of his site, calling it a "major breach of trust, and I'm really sorry that this happened.

"We have a basic responsibility to protect people's data, and if we can't do that, they we don't deserve to have the opportunity to serve people."

Mark Zuckerberg broke his silence to speak to CNN. Credit: CNN

After apologising, the 33-year-old set out Facebook's plans to ensure that such an incident does not happen again, with thousands of apps being checked and reviewed and privacy policies tightened.

"This isn't rocket science, there is a lot of hard work that we need to do to make it harder for nation states like Russia to do election interference, to make it so that trolls and other folks can't spread fake news, but we can get in front of this," Mr Zuckerberg told the US television channel.