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Senator catches Mark Zuckerberg off guard when asking about CEO's personal info
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) questioned Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about the rights of users' privacy during a Senate hearing. (Image source: PBS video screenshot)

Senator catches Mark Zuckerberg off guard when asking about CEO's personal info

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) got into an awkward exchange Tuesday when the senator asked the social media magnate about the potential exposure of his own personal information.

What happened?

"Would you be comfortable sharing with us the name of the hotel you stayed in last night?" Durbin asked Zuckerberg during the Senate hearing Tuesday about how Facebook handles its users' private information.

"Um, uh," Zuckerberg said, followed by a long pause before he finally answered, "No."

Panel members and the audience roared with laughter at Zuckerberg's hesitancy to answer the question.

"If you've messaged anybody this week, would you share with us the names of the people you've messaged?" Durbin asked the 33-year-old CEO and billionaire.

"Senator, no, I would probably not choose to do that publicly here," Zuckerberg said.

"I think that might be what this is all about — your right to privacy, the limits of your right to privacy, and how much you'd give away in modern America in the name of quote 'connecting people around the world,'" Durbin said.

"A question basically of what information Facebook's collecting, who they're sending it to and whether they ever asked me in advance my permission to do that," Durbin continued. "Is that a fair thing for a user of Facebook to expect?"

"Yes, senator, I think everyone should have control over how their information is used," Zuckerberg responded.

What else?

The CEO of the multibillion-dollar social media company has vowed that Facebook will do more to protect people's personal information.

Zuckerberg faced another day of tough questioning Wednesday during a House hearing.

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