The social networking site, after finding that its data privacy policies had been violated, has suspended Cambridge Analytica and two other individuals. (File)
A UK-based data analytics firm, which played a role in President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign and the winning Brexit campaign has been suspended by Facebook for harvesting private information of more than 50 million social networking site users without their permission.
The social networking site suspended Cambridge Analytica and two other individuals after finding that its data privacy policies had been violated. In a statement, Facebook has said that it suspended Cambridge Analytica and its parent group Strategic Communication Laboratories (SCL) after receiving reports that they did not delete information about Facebook users that had been inappropriately shared.
A whisteblower, who helped found the data firm, has explained how the largest data leaks in the social network’s history allowed the company to exploit the private social media activity of a huge swath of the American electorate. According to the Observer, Cambridge Analytica used the data, taken without authorization in early 2014, to build a software program to predict and influence choices at the ballot box.
In simple words, the firm put to effect American linguist Noam Chomsky’s theory of manufacturing consent, but in an illegal way by breaching the privacy of millions of Facebook users and also violating the terms laid down by the social media giant.
The firm had secured a USD 15 million investment from Hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer, a prominent supporter of politically conservative groups. In fact, the wealthy Republican donor wooed his political adviser Stephen K. Bannon, with the promise of tools that could identify the personalities of American voters and influence their behavior. However, it did not have the data to make its new products work. To overcome this obstacle, the firm roped in University of Cambridge professor Aleksandr Kogan who built an app called thisisyourdigitallife.
Kogan, in collaboration with Cambridge Analytica, prepared an online personality test in which thousands of Facebook users were paid. He also persuaded the users to have their data collected for academic use. Facebook had severed ties with the Cambridge professor in 2015, but came to know that he had not deleted all the data that was collected. However, Kogan was not immediately available for comment.
Former Cambridge employees, associates and documents also reveal the way in which the massive data leak took place. One of the whistleblowers has described the company as an “arsenal of weapons” in a culture war.
Meanwhile, US media is viewing the case as an international effort to read voters’ minds and raising question mark over privacy policy of Facebook.