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Data breach rocks Facebook as UK launches investigation

March 20, 2018
Alexander Nix, right, CEO of Cambridge Analytica arrives at the offices of Cambridge Analytica in central London on Tuesday. — Reuters
Alexander Nix, right, CEO of Cambridge Analytica arrives at the offices of Cambridge Analytica in central London on Tuesday. — Reuters

LONDON/WASHINGTON — Britain’s information commissioner says she is using all her legal powers to investigate the handling of millions of people’s personal Facebook data by the social media giant and by political campaign consultants Cambridge Analytica.

Commissioner Elizabeth Denham is pursuing a warrant to search Cambridge Analytica’s servers. The company allegedly used data mined from Facebook to help Donald Trump win the 2016 presidential election.

She told BBC on Tuesday she is also investigating Facebook and has asked the company not to pursue its own audit of Cambridge Analytica’s data use. She says Facebook has agreed.

“Our advice to Facebook is to back away and let us go in and do our work,” she said.

Denham said the prime allegation against Cambridge Analytica is that it acquired personal data in an unauthorized way, adding that the data provisions act requires platforms like Facebook to have strong safeguards against misuse of data.

Chris Wylie, who once worked for Cambridge Analytica, was quoted as saying the company used the data to build psychological profiles so voters could be targeted with ads and stories.

Denham launched her investigation after weekend reports that Cambridge Analytica improperly used information from more than 50 million Facebook accounts. Facebook has suspended the company from the social network.

Calls for investigations came on both sides of the Atlantic after Facebook responded to explosive reports of misuse of its data by suspending the account of Cambridge Analytica.

In the United States, Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar and Republican John Kennedy called for Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg to appear before Congress, along with Google and Twitter’s CEOs.

The lawmakers said the companies “have amassed unprecedented amounts of personal data” and that the lack of oversight “raises concerns about the integrity of American elections as well as privacy rights.”

Facebook’s chief of security Alex Stamos said his role has shifted to focusing on emerging risks and election security at the global social network.

Stamos revealed the change after The New York Times reported that he was leaving Facebook in the wake of internal clashes over how to deal with the platform being used to spread misinformation.

“Despite the rumors, I’m still fully engaged with my work at Facebook,” Stamos said in a message posted on his verified Twitter account.

“It’s true that my role did change. I’m currently spending more time exploring emerging security risks and working on election security.”

Stamos advocated investigating and revealing manipulation of news at the social network by Russian entities, to the chagrin of other top executives, the Times reported, citing unnamed current and former employees.

Senator Ron Wyden asked Facebook to provide more information on what he called a “troubling” misuse of private data that could have been used to sway voters.

Wyden said he wants to know how Cambridge Analytica used Facebook tools “to weaponize detailed psychological profiles against tens of millions of Americans.”

In Europe, officials voiced similar outrage.

Vera Jourova, the European commissioner for justice, consumers and gender equality, called the revelations “horrifying, if confirmed,” and vowed to address concerns in the United States this week.

According to a joint investigation by The New York Times and Britain’s Observer, Cambridge Analytica was able to create psychological profiles on 50 million Facebook users through the use of a personality prediction app that was downloaded by 270,000 people, but also scooped up data from friends.

Cambridge Analytica denied misusing Facebook data for the Trump campaign. — Agencies


March 20, 2018
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