Execs’ testimony to MPS false, says whistleblower

‘Weasel words’ used to obscure truth: Wylie

OTTAWA • The Canadian whistleblower who kickstarted a controversy around how Facebook handles personal information says the companies who exploited that data, including one Canadian firm, have “completely disregarded the concept of truth.”

Christopher Wylie testified under oath Tuesday morning, highlighting connections between the embattled and bankrupt political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica and its Canadian affiliate, Aggregateiq .

In testimony delivered by video conference from London, England, to the House of Commons privacy committee’s in Ottawa, the pink-haired Wylie claimed several inconsistencies in what the founders of Aggregateiq told the committee last month — including one statement he called “completely false.”

“My opinion is that there were answers that felt obfuscated or so fantastical that it’s hard to believe,” said Wylie, the firm’s former research director, accusing Jeff Silvester and Zackary Massingham of using “weasel words” to hide the truth from MPS in their April testimony.

The privacy committee has found itself at the centre of a global struggle to rein in companies that exploit personal information on the web. Cambridge Analytica and many of its affiliates are under investigation worldwide for their alleged use of improperly obtained Facebook data for political campaigns. The company claimed it could create “psychographic profiles” of voters, giving political operations a unique tool to change hearts and minds during election campaigns.

The Victoria, B.c.-based firm Aggregateiq is under investigation in the U.K. for allegedly breaching campaign finance rules while working for the Leave campaign during the 2016 Brexit referendum. Wylie had previously said Aggregateiq functioned as a wing of SCL Group, Cambridge Analytica’s parent company, developing software and running campaigns globally.

At the previous hearing, Aggregateiq CEO Zack Massingham said, while he was working on an election campaign in Nigeria, that he hadn’t even heard of Cambridge Analytica. Wylie appeared genuinely flabbergasted at the claim.

“That just can’t possibly be true,” said Wylie, as laughs broke out among the MPS in the committee room. “I’m frankly shocked he said that. A CEO of a company who doesn’t know who your largest client was,” he said.

Wylie had previously said Silvester told him the work Aggregateiq was engaged in was “totally illegal,” which Silvester denied when asked about it at the previous committee hearing.

“The words ‘totally illegal’ I distinctly remember,” said Wylie.

Silvester also said he had reached out to Wylie to correct the record, which Wylie denied.

“I don’t believe that for a minute,” said Wylie, who offered up his text messages for MPS to read.

In reference to Massingham’s claim that Aggregate IQ had no connection to SCL, Wylie said “that’s completely false.”

Wylie said the way the men from Aggregate IQ described the company’s work doesn’t make sense. Without the data procured by Cambridge Analytica and the psychographic profiling techniques, the company wouldn’t offer much more than the automatic insights provided by Facebook.

“The thing that I find farcical is (the idea that) all AIQ does is click some demographics on Facebook ad manager. What is the value of your company, then? You’re doing something an intern can do,” said Wylie.

Committee member and NDP MP Charlie Angus said they will likely be hauling Aggregateiq back to correct the record. The committee has been considering laying contempt charges against the men since the acrimonious hearing in late April, which infuriated MPS, who believed their answers were evasive.

Angus said the committee may expand its mandate in the fall, as it grapples with the widening scope of the problem.

“For us right now, it’s important to get to the bottom of this story in order to get to the bottom of other data breaches,” said Angus.

Christopher Wylie