Canadian firm linked to Facebook data scandal got $100K from Ottawa
OTTAWA — The Canadian company at the heart of the international scandal over the unauthorized use of Facebook information received $100,000 in federal funding last year to develop datadriven tools for political campaigns, The Canadian Press has learned.
AggregateIQ Data Services Ltd. received the one-time contribution from the National Research Council for a nine-month project aimed at developing digital tools to predict who would turn out to vote and the likelihood of supporting a specific candidate, and to predict the outcome of a campaign’s communications strategy.
The British Columbia company is under investigation by privacy officials in Ottawa, B.C. and the United Kingdom for its role in influencing the outcome of the U.K.’s Brexit referendum. It is also under investigation for allegedly violating limits on spending during that campaign to benefit the “leave” side.
AggregateIQ has also been linked to Cambridge Analytica, the political consultancy firm accused of improperly accessing private Facebook data to help political campaigns, including Donald Trump’s 2016 U.S. presidential bid and the Brexit campaign.
Facebook estimates the personal information of 622,161 users in Canada — and nearly 87 million worldwide — was improperly accessed by Cambridge Analytica.
AggregateIQ has said it has always complied with the law and has denied ever being part of Cambridge Analytica or its parent firm, SCL. It has also said it never entered into a contract with Cambridge Analytica, nor has it ever had access to Facebook data allegedly obtained improperly by Cambridge Analytica.
In 10 months following the 2016 Brexit and Trump victories, the National Research Council provided AggregateIQ with $100,000 in funding, under the Industrial Research Assistance Program, to support a $250,000 project by the company.
A copy of the funding agreement, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, says the project’s objective was to create tools to help political campaigns accurately predict voter turnouts, the likelihood of support for a specific candidate and the effectiveness of a given campaign communications strategy.
“At the completion of the project, AggregateIQ will have an agnostic campaign data reporting platform that will enable our staff to provide more efficient consulting in the work we do as well as sell access to the tool for other organizations to use,” reads the agreement.
“With no personal data and no data that could be matched back to an individual, we believe that the project meets all ethical requirements and does not require further ethical review,” the agreement said.
The Canadian Press sought comment from AggregateIQ’s chief operating officer, Jeff Silvester, who is listed in the agreement as the company’s representative, but received no response. The agreement was signed by AggregateIQ’s CEO, Zackary Massingham.
Canadian data expert Christopher Wylie, who blew the whistle on Cambridge Analytica’s improper use of Facebook data, has claimed he helped found AggregateIQ while he worked for SCL, the parent company of Cambridge Analytica. He has said he “absolutely” believes AggregateIQ drew on Cambridge Analytica’s databases for its work on the Brexit campaign.