A little late for that, don't you think?!

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday announced the company would be reorienting itself to become a more privacy-minded platform.

"I believe the future of communication will increasingly shift to private, encrypted services where people can be confident what they say to each other stays secure and their messages and content won't stick around forever. This is the future I hope we will help bring about," Zuckerberg said in a post.

He added that the company would be focusing on building encryption tools and "reducing permanence" in users' online communications.

The post comes as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reportedly considers levying a record multimillion-dollar fine against Facebook over its handling of user privacy. The social media behemoth has faced an ongoing barrage of scandals over its data privacy practices, with governments and privacy watchdogs around the world accusing Facebook of valuing profit over user safety.

While the company has tried to adapt in a climate increasingly sensitive to data privacy issues, Zuckerberg's post offers some of the first specifics around how it might change its operations, and it marks a radical shift in Facebook's mission. Zuckerberg compared Facebook's original structure to the "digital equivalent of a town square," with a focus on public posts and conversations. Now, he says, more users opting for a digital "living room" with a greater focus on intimate and private communication.

Zuckerberg wrote that Facebook is planning to start encrypting messages end-to-end, and then will add privacy features for calls, video chats, groups, stories, businesses, payments and commerce. He emphasized that Facebook will accept the repercussions for the focus, even being banned from countries that bar privacy features including encryption.

The embattled CEO emphasized WhatsApp, which Facebook acquired in 2014, as a model for the future of encrypted messaging on Facebook.

"I understand that many people don't think Facebook can or would even want to build this kind of privacy-focused platform — because frankly we don't currently have a strong reputation for building privacy protective services, and we've historically focused on tools for more open sharing," Zuckerberg wrote, addressing the skeptics right off the bat. "But we've repeatedly shown that we can evolve to build the services that people really want, including in private messaging and stories."

Facebook recently announced plans to integrate its messaging services Instagram Direct, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger so that users can communicate across the different platforms.

"With the ability to message across our services, however, you'd be able to send an encrypted message to someone's phone number in WhatsApp from Messenger," Zuckerberg wrote.

He wrote that Facebook will pivot toward reducing the "permanence" of messages and stories.

"I believe there's an opportunity to set a new standard for private communication platforms — where content automatically expires or is archived over time," Zuckerberg wrote. "Stories already expire after 24 hours unless you archive them, and that gives people the comfort to share more naturally. This philosophy could be extended to all private content."

He wrote that the changes would take place "over the next few years."

https://thehill.com/policy/technology/432894-zuckerberg-says-facebook-will-shift-to-privacy-oriented-platform

A Republican lawmaker on the House Intelligence Committee is pressing Michael Cohen on whether Democrats or their aides "coordinated" with President Trump's former personal lawyer to help him prepare his statements before he testified before Congress.

Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio) delivered a letter on Wednesday to Cohen as he was testifying a second time before the panel, asking him to answer a series of questions regarding the extent of contact he had with Democrats on the House and Senate Intelligence committees as well as the House Oversight and Reform Committee.

"Clearly, there will be questions as to whether or not such contacts, if they occurred, constitute witness tampering, obstruction of justice, or collusion, collaboration, and cooperation between the House Democratic majority, their staff, and you," he wrote.

Turner wrote that Cohen acknowledged in statements before the House Oversight committee that prior to his congressional testimony last week, he met extensively with Democratic staff.

The GOP lawmaker in the letter specifically asked about any contact Cohen had with House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).

Cohen's Oversight testimony was public, but he has twice met privately with the House Intelligence committee.

Turner emphasized that he was not getting into the contents of the closed-door interview, but he was asking about the circumstances surrounding it.

The letter was sent to Cohen's attorney's office on Wednesday morning.

He asked for Cohen to provide details as to whether he had contact with the Democrats, and if so, the dates and times, the committees involved, who he talked to and the length of each contact, as well as other information.

"Were any such meetings helpful to Cohen in the preparation of his statements?" he asked.

"If these meetings occurred, did Democratic Members or staff assist Cohen in preparation of his statements?" he continued.

Turner is not the only lawmaker circling around whether Cohen has met with Democratic staff ahead of his testimony on the Hill.

During his public testimony before the Oversight panel, the committee’s top Republican, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.) questioned Cohen on the matter.

“Did you or anyone else on your team cooperate with the Democratic Party in preparing for this hearing?” Hice asked Cohen last week.

“We’ve spoken to the party,” Cohen replied.

He later noted that he’s spoken with the Democratic chairs and their staff on the House Intelligence and Oversight panels, and that Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) in large part convinced him in these meetings to publicly testify.

An Oversight committee source indicated that Cohen also spoke to Republican committee staff ahead of the hearing.

Jordan later followed up on Hice's questioning, asking: “Have you spoken to Chairman Nadler or anyone on his staff or have any of your attorneys spoken to Chairman Nadler?”

Cohen said "no" he has not had such conversations, while also noting that he is “not aware” what conversations his attorney has had, but said he will ask them.

Patrick Boland, a Democratic spokesman for the House Intelligence Committee, described the process of meeting a witness ahead of time as a standard, "appropriate."

“We are running a professional investigation in search of the facts, and we welcome the opportunity to meet with potential witnesses in advance of any testimony to determine relevant topics to cover in order to make productive use of their time before the committee," Boland said in a statement to The Hill. "Despite this professed outrage by Republicans, it’s completely appropriate to conduct proffer sessions and allow witnesses to review their prior testimony before the Committee interviews them — such sessions are a routine part of every serious investigation around the country, including congressional investigations.”

Democrats have largely brushed off Republican pushback over their decision to have Cohen testify. Republicans, who note that he pleaded guilty to lying to Congress last November, say he is a known liar who cannot be trusted.

Over the weekend, Schiff suggested that Republicans are upset Cohen agreed to testify about his former boss.

"The extent of my contact was just inviting him to testify and also trying to allay his concerns about the President's threats against him and his family, but our staff certainly sat down to interview him and that's what you do in any credible investigation," Schiff said over the weekend on CBS's "Face the Nation."

More:

https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/432854-gop-lawmaker-questions-cohen-on-whether-he-coordinated-with-dems-on