WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – It may take a few years in order for Facebook to solve the problems associated with third-parties using data from its users in unauthorized ways, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in an interview.

“I think we will dig through this hole, but it will take a few years. I wish I could solve all these issues in three months or six months, but I just think the reality is that solving some of these questions are just going to take a longer period of time,” Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in an interview to Vox.com.

Facebook announced last week it would shut down the Partner Categories, which allows third-party data providers to offer their targeting directly on Facebook.

It also plans to introduce new privacy tools in the coming weeks to allow users to more easily manage and access their personal data.

Cambridge Analytica became embroiled in an international scandal after it emerged that the company had received the data of around 50 million Facebook users without their permission and through improper channels. The company harvested the information to develop a mechanism that would predict and influence the behavior of voters to boost US President Donald Trump in the 2016 election.

On Thursday, Zuckerberg apologized for the situation with Cambridge Analytica and admitted that he should not have trusted the firm. He has said there were several mistakes that led to the situation, adding that most of the actions needed to prevent this from happening again were already taken years ago.

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