The Cambridge Analytica Scandal: Difference between revisions
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==Data theft== | ==Data theft== | ||
===Harvesting=== | ===Harvesting=== | ||
:In 2013 Aleksandr Kogan, a researcher at the University of Cambridge, developed a Facebook app, ''This Is Your Digital Life | :In 2013 Aleksandr Kogan, a researcher at the University of Cambridge, developed a Facebook app, ''This Is Your Digital Life'', under his company, GSR.<ref name=":2" /> The app was presented as a personality quiz and paid users to take psychological surveys. It collected their Facebook data including their friends' information due to Facebook’s permissive API policies at the time. Approximately 270,000 users directly took the quiz, accessing an estimated 87 million profiles because of Facebook’s Open Graph platform.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 30, 2020 |title=Facebook data privacy scandal: A cheat sheet |url=https://www.techrepublic.com/article/facebook-data-privacy-scandal-a-cheat-sheet/ |url-status=live |access-date=25 Jun 2025 |work=TechRepublic}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Cadwalladr |first=Carole |last2=Graham-Harrison |first2=Emma |date=March 17, 2018 |title=Revealed: 50 million Facebook profiles harvested for Cambridge Analytica in major data breach |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/cambridge-analytica-facebook-influence-us-election |url-status=live |access-date=25 Jun 2025 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> The collected data included likes, location, birth dates, friend networks, and some users' private messages.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cambridge Analytica |url=https://dig.watch/trends/cambridge-analytica |url-status=live |access-date=25 Jun 2025 |website=dig.watch}}</ref> | ||
=== | ===Data transferred=== | ||
:Kogan violated Facebook’s terms by sharing the data with Analytica, a political consulting firm co-founded by Republican donor [[wikipedia:Robert_Mercer|Robert Mercer]] and led by CEO [[wikipedia:Alexander_Nix|Alexander Nix]]. To predict and influence voter behavior Analytica used the data to build psychographic profiles based on the OCEAN (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism) model<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Fernando |first=Jason |date=January 28, 2025 |title=Cambridge Analytica: Overview, History, and Examples |url=https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cambridge-analytica.asp |url-status=live |access-date=25 Jun 2025 |website=investopedia}}</ref> | :Kogan violated Facebook’s terms by sharing the data with Analytica, a political consulting firm co-founded by Republican donor [[wikipedia:Robert_Mercer|Robert Mercer]] and led by CEO [[wikipedia:Alexander_Nix|Alexander Nix]]. To predict and influence voter behavior Analytica used the data to build psychographic profiles based on the OCEAN (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism) model<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Fernando |first=Jason |date=January 28, 2025 |title=Cambridge Analytica: Overview, History, and Examples |url=https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cambridge-analytica.asp |url-status=live |access-date=25 Jun 2025 |website=investopedia}}</ref> | ||
Political applications | ===Whistleblower revelations=== | ||
:In March 2018, former Analytica employee Christopher Wylie exposed the scandal through ''The Guardian'' and ''The New York Times'', revealing that Facebook had known about the breach since 2015 but failed to notify affected users or enforce data deletion.<ref name=":0" /> | |||
===Political applications=== | |||
*Ted Cruz’s 2016 Presidential Campaign: Analytica was hired to micro-target voters with tailored ads.<ref name=":1" /> | *Ted Cruz’s 2016 Presidential Campaign: Analytica was hired to micro-target voters with tailored ads.<ref name=":1" /> | ||
*Donald Trump’s 2016 Campaign: The psychographic models allegedly helped the Trump campaign identify and persuade swing voters. Although former staffer Brad Parscale had ties to Analytica, the campaign denied knowingly using improperly obtained data.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Overly |first=Steven |date=March 17, 2018 |title=Report: Trump-linked firm exploited data on 50 million Facebook users |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/17/facebook-trump-campaign-data-cambridge-analytica-423599 |work=Politico}}</ref> | *Donald Trump’s 2016 Campaign: The psychographic models allegedly helped the Trump campaign identify and persuade swing voters. Although former staffer Brad Parscale had ties to Analytica, the campaign denied knowingly using improperly obtained data.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Overly |first=Steven |date=March 17, 2018 |title=Report: Trump-linked firm exploited data on 50 million Facebook users |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/17/facebook-trump-campaign-data-cambridge-analytica-423599 |work=Politico}}</ref> | ||
*Brexit Referendum (2016): Analytica was linked to the pro-Brexit group, Leave EU, though investigations later found no direct evidence of significant involvement. | *Brexit Referendum (2016): Analytica was linked to the pro-Brexit group, Leave EU, though investigations later found no direct evidence of significant involvement. | ||
==Responses== | |||
*Facebook dismissed the incident as a violation of terms rather than a data breach claiming, "...Mr.Korgan misled us all."<ref name=":4" /> | *Facebook dismissed the incident as a violation of terms rather than a data breach claiming, "...Mr.Korgan misled us all."<ref name=":4" /> | ||
*CA claimed it was not aware that the data from GSR violated Facebook's terms of service and deleted it after insistence from Facebook.<ref name=":4" /> | *CA claimed it was not aware that the data from GSR violated Facebook's terms of service and deleted it after insistence from Facebook.<ref name=":4" /> | ||
==Outcome== | |||
*Mark Zuckerberg testified before the U.S. Congress in April 2018, acknowledging lapses in oversight. | *Mark Zuckerberg testified before the U.S. Congress in April 2018, acknowledging lapses in oversight. | ||
*Facebook faced a $5 billion FTC fine in 2019 for privacy violations. | *Facebook faced a $5 billion FTC fine in 2019 for privacy violations. | ||
*Alexander Nix was suspended after uncovered footage surface. | |||
*Cambridge Analytica filed for bankruptcy in May 2018 amid investigations. | *Cambridge Analytica filed for bankruptcy in May 2018 amid investigations. | ||
*Regulatory Reforms: | *Regulatory Reforms: | ||
**The | **The E.U.’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was strengthened in response. | ||
**U.S. lawmakers proposed stricter social media regulations, though no comprehensive federal law was passed. | **U.S. lawmakers proposed stricter social media regulations, though no comprehensive federal law was passed. | ||