Twitter sold data to Cambridge Analytica researcher: Report

LONDON: ACADEMIC BOUGHT THE DATA FROM THE MICROBLOGGING WEBSITE IN 2015, TWO YEARS BEFORE THE RECENT SCANDAL CAME TO LIGHT

Social media major Twitter sold data to the University of Cambridge academic Aleksandr Kogan who harvested millions of Facebook users’ information without their knowledge, it has emerged, although Twitter says no private data was accessed.

Kogan, who created tools that allowed political consultancy Cambridge Analytica to psychologically profile and target voters, bought the data from the microblogging website in 2015, before the recent scandal came to light.

According to The Daily Telegraph, Kogan bought tweets, usernames, photos, profile pictures and location data from Twitter over a five-month period between December 2014 and April 2015 through his company Global Science Research (GSR).

Twitter said it had banned GSR and Cambridge Analytica from buying data or running adverts on the website and that no private data had been accessed, while Kogan insisted the data had only been used to create “brand reports” and “survey extender tools” and that he had not violated Twitter’s policies.

The daily reported that Twitter charges companies and organisations to collect them en masse.

Large datasets are particularly useful for gleaning public opinion or receptiveness to certain topics and ideas, although Twitter bans companies from using the data to derive sensitive political information or matching it with personal information obtained elsewhere.

A Twitter spokesman confirmed the ban and said: “Twitter has also made the policy decision to off-board advertising from all accounts owned and operated by Cambridge Analytica. This decision is based on our determination that Cambridge Analytica operates using a business model that inherently conflicts with acceptable Twitter Ads business practices.