Recently, Facebook banned Strategic Communication Laboratories (SCL), including their political data analytics firm, Cambridge Analytica from Facebook for gathering information from users of their app.
Facebook claims that it is strictly forbidden but the tech giant is being clobbered over its suspension and things will soon get much worse and much quicker. Carol Davidsen, former director of Obama for America’s Integration and Media Analytics, has revealed that Facebook gave Obama free rein to collect the very same data in the very same way. She said that Facebook told her that they allowed Obama access to information they would not allow anyone else to get because “they were on our side.”
An article written in 2012 about a project code named tärgus https://t.co/cuwy4MhkPm
— Carol Davidsen (@cld276) March 19, 2018
An article written in 2012 about a project code named tärgus https://t.co/cuwy4MhkPm
— Carol Davidsen (@cld276) March 19, 2018
They came to office in the days following election recruiting & were very candid that they allowed us to do things they wouldn’t have allowed someone else to do because they were on our side.
— Carol Davidsen (@cld276) March 19, 2018
An article written in 2012 about a project code named tärgus https://t.co/cuwy4MhkPm
— Carol Davidsen (@cld276) March 19, 2018
“In 2015, we learned that a psychology professor at the University of Cambridge named Dr. Aleksandr Kogan lied to us and violated our Platform Policies by passing data from an app that was using Facebook Login to SCL/Cambridge Analytica, a firm that does political, government and military work around the globe,” Facebook stated in a Friday blog post. “He also passed that data to Christopher Wylie of Eunoia Technologies, Inc.”
“Several days ago, we received reports that, contrary to the certifications we were given, not all data was deleted,” the statement continued. “We are moving aggressively to determine the accuracy of these claims. If true, this is another unacceptable violation of trust and the commitments they made. We are suspending SCL/Cambridge Analytica, Wylie and Kogan from Facebook, pending further information.”
After the banning, Facebook shares dropped like a rock, wiping out billions in value. It may drop more now that it is known they allowed Obama to do the same thing they are banning Trump’s group for doing. It could be considered a PIK. (Payment in kind. If so, it would be an illegal campaign contribution since it’s value is far away higher than the maximum contribution allowed by law.