Facebook states that the data breach compromised close to 86 million users. Wylie said that it was possible for the final number to be higher.
The data that was inappropriately taken from Facebook may have been partially stored in Russia, the Cambridge Analytica whistleblower has alleged, lending credence to the theory of Russian meddling in US elections.
According to a Bloomberg report, whistleblower Christoper Wylie, in an episode of NBC’s “Meet the Press” said that a some of the data “could be stored in various parts of the world, including Russia.”
It was initially suggested that the data of 50 million users was breached. Facebook states that the data breach compromised close to 87 million users. Wylie said that it was possible for the final number to be higher.
Wylie further said that “The professor who was managing the data harvesting process was going back and forth between the UK and Russia,” which was a reference to Cambridge University lecturer Aleksandr Kogan.
Facebook founder and chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg will give a two-day testimony on Capitol Hill before the Senate Judiciary and Commerce on Tuesday.
The social media giant is currently under the scanner for the breach of its user’s data to UK-based Cambridge Analytica, which allegedly affected the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.
The firm was earlier funded by Renaissance Technologies co-CEO Robert Mercer, who was a key supporter of President Donald Trump in 2016. Steve Bannon, who was a board member of Cambridge Analytica, was also Trump’s campaign official.