Cambridge analytica scandal

  • What is Cambridge Analytica, how was it involved in the Facebook data scandal?

    What is Cambridge Analytica, how was it involved in the Facebook data scandal?

     

    What is Cambridge Analytica?

             Cambridge Analytica is a London-based company that helps business and political groups "change audience behavior".They muster up data on voters through their internet-use. This data is then analyzed and packaged so that political spin doctors can create more effective slogans and campaign messages.The Company was only set up in 2013, launching as a spin-off project from parent company SCL Group.It collects data from sources including social media platforms like Facebook. Cambridge Analytica collected Facebook data in bulk to influence voters in the UK and USA.

    Who was affected by the data leak?

    Who was affected by the data leak?

    Facebook said the 87 million users whose data might have been shared with the political firm would get a message on their feeds. It said most of the affected users are in the US, though there are over a million each in the Philippines, Indonesia, and the UK.

     

             There are around 40million Facebook users in Britain, so that means you have a roughly 1 in 40 chance of having had your data hovered up without your knowledge. Facebook's Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer revealed shared the number while discussing the steps the company was taking to restrict the personal data available to third-party app developers. Cambridge Analytica co-founder Christopher Wylie blew the whistle on the fiasco."And built models to exploit what we knew about them and target their inner demons. "That was the basis the entire company was built on."

     

            It seems like every single day brings with it startling new revelations in the ongoing Facebook data leak scandal. With CEO Mark Zuckerberg preparing to testify before Congress for two days week, the company would no doubt appreciate it if troubling new developments surrounding the Cambridge Analytica ordeal would stop dominating the news cycle for a bit. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen anytime soon. Among the biggest developments in this ongoing nightmare of a story is a troubling new revelation from the whistleblower who brought this troubling scandal to light in the first place. According to Christopher Wylie, the private data stolen from as many as 87 million Facebook users might currently be stored in Russia.

     

    How huge was Facebook data trove used in Donald Trump US election campaign?

     

    Cambridge analytica is a British data firm partly owned by the family of Robert Mercer, a billionaire American hedge fund manager, and Republican donor. The organization has been drawing flak for its alleged role in influencing the behavior of voters in 2016 presidential election campaign and for helping the ‘Leave’ side in the Brexit referendum.

     

     What has the organization done?

     

            The firm is alleged to have harvested data from tens of millions of Facebook users without permission in order to design software to predict and influence people’s voting preferences. President Donald Trump’s campaign gained inappropriate access to data on 50 million Facebook users. The reports in The New York Times and the observer were based on details provided by Christopher Wylie, a 28-year –old data analytics expert who helped found Cambridge Analytica-the firm at the center of the alleged data breach.

     

    Mark Zuckerberg’s scandal response is doomed because Facebook is about Feelings

     

      The CEO of facebook broke his long silence after a huge scandal broke about political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica and its illicit use of Facebook user data. The whole scandal must feel a little unfair. Most Americans probably couldn’t even explain in detail what exact misdeed Cambridge Analytica carried out, or how Facebook may have abetted it.Even if you’ve fully digested the details, Cambridge use of personal data for the Trump campaign in 2016 wasn’t significantly different than what the Obama campaign pioneered four years earlier-although the machinations that Cambridge Analytica used to obtain the data were unquestionably much sketchier.

    Who was affected by the data leak?

    Facebook said the 87 million users whose data might have been shared with the political firm would get a message on their feeds. It said most of the affected users are in the US, though there are over a million each in the Philippines, Indonesia, and the UK.

     

             There are around 40million Facebook users in Britain, so that means you have a roughly 1 in 40 chance of having had your data hovered up without your knowledge. Facebook's Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer revealed shared the number while discussing the steps the company was taking to restrict the personal data available to third-party app developers. Cambridge Analytica co-founder Christopher Wylie blew the whistle on the fiasco."And built models to exploit what we knew about them and target their inner demons. "That was the basis the entire company was built on."

     

            It seems like every single day brings with it startling new revelations in the ongoing Facebook data leak scandal. With CEO Mark Zuckerberg preparing to testify before Congress for two days week, the company would no doubt appreciate it if troubling new developments surrounding the Cambridge Analytica ordeal would stop dominating the news cycle for a bit. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen anytime soon. Among the biggest developments in this ongoing nightmare of a story is a troubling new revelation from the whistleblower who brought this troubling scandal to light in the first place. According to Christopher Wylie, the private data stolen from as many as 87 million Facebook users might currently be stored in Russia.

     

    How huge was Facebook data trove used in Donald Trump US election campaign?

     

    Cambridge analytica is a British data firm partly owned by the family of Robert Mercer, a billionaire American hedge fund manager, and Republican donor. The organization has been drawing flak for its alleged role in influencing the behavior of voters in 2016 presidential election campaign and for helping the ‘Leave’ side in the Brexit referendum.

     

     What has the organization done?

     

            The firm is alleged to have harvested data from tens of millions of Facebook users without permission in order to design software to predict and influence people’s voting preferences. President Donald Trump’s campaign gained inappropriate access to data on 50 million Facebook users. The reports in The New York Times and the observer were based on details provided by Christopher Wylie, a 28-year –old data analytics expert who helped found Cambridge Analytica-the firm at the center of the alleged data breach.

     

    Mark Zuckerberg’s scandal response is doomed because Facebook is about Feelings

     

      The CEO of facebook broke his long silence after a huge scandal broke about political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica and its illicit use of Facebook user data. The whole scandal must feel a little unfair. Most Americans probably couldn’t even explain in detail what exact misdeed Cambridge Analytica carried out, or how Facebook may have abetted it.Even if you’ve fully digested the details, Cambridge use of personal data for the Trump campaign in 2016 wasn’t significantly different than what the Obama campaign pioneered four years earlier-although the machinations that Cambridge Analytica used to obtain the data were unquestionably much sketchier.