Facebook has long held the personal data of all of its users, which by some estimates reaches into over one billion people. What they’ve used that data for has always remained somewhat of a mystery, however. Now the social media giant is facing an investigation into its mishandling of the personal data of 50 million users over the span of years. The impetus behind all this? Cambridge Analytica.
Since 2014, it has been reported that Cambridge Analytica – which has ties to the Donald Trump administration – was given the private information of 50 million users, with the unprecedented access enabling the company to help swing the 2016 election in Donald Trump‘s favour. The media reports – which were already set for release when Facebook issued a blog post on the subject – has garnered significant attention from media and political pundits.
Democratic U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar issued a statement on the matter, saying that Facebook, and companies like it, need more investigation. In her words:
“It’s clear these platforms can’t police themselves. They say ‘trust us.’ Mark Zuckerberg needs to testify before Senate Judiciary.“
Facebook said the root of the problem was that researchers and Cambridge Analytica lied to it and abused its policies, but critics on Saturday threw blame at Facebook as well, demanding answers on behalf of users and calling for new regulation. As Frank Pasquale, a University of Maryland law professor, put it, the social media giant is trying to paint a prettier picture than it is, saying:
“The lid is being opened on the black box of Facebook’s data practices, and the picture is not pretty. It amazes me that they are trying to make this about nomenclature. I guess that’s all they have left.“
The 2016 presidential election has been a source of extreme headaches for the company for months; it was only weeks ago that the company admitted to selling ads to Russian agents designed to sway voters. Democratic U.S. Senator Mark Warner said the episode bolstered the need for new regulations about internet advertising. Mr. Warner echoed Ms. Klobuchar‘s comments, saying:
“Whether it’s allowing Russians to purchase political ads, or extensive micro-targeting based on ill-gotten user data, it’s clear that, left unregulated, this market will continue to be prone to deception and lacking in transparency.“
Some 270,000 people allowed use of their data by a researcher, who scraped the data of all their friends as well, a move allowed by Facebook until 2015. The researcher sold the data to Cambridge Analytica, which was against Facebook rules. The company, in a series of written statements beginning late on Friday, said its policies had been broken by Cambridge Analytica and researchers and that it was exploring legal action.
LJ Tribune 