Wylie links Africa death to data firm
BRITAIN: A whistleblower at Cambridge Analytica who alleges that a trove of Facebook data was improperly used to help Donald Trump’s White House bid says he strongly believes the information was also used by the Brexit movement that persuaded Britain to quit the European Union – and has claimed that his predecessor died in suspicious circumstances.
Christopher Wylie, a data specialist, appeared before British MPs yesterday to outline the company’s work. He repeated allegations that Aggre- gate IQ (AIQ), the Can- adian data company used by Vote Leave, was linked to Cambridge Analytica and helped to influence the Brexit referendum.
Wylie told the culture committee that ‘‘cheating’’ by the Vote Leave campaign may have swayed the result, and that AIQ ‘‘hacked material’’ and ‘‘tried to illicitly acquire live internet browsing data of everyone in an entire country’’.
He also outlined tactics allegedly used by the company in African elections, including attempts to manipulate a Nigerian poll by distributing threatening and violent videos.
Wylie said there had been moments on campaigns where staff feared for their safety.
‘‘My predecessor was found dead,’’ he said. ‘‘One of my other co-workers had a massive head injury and is missing part of his skull.
‘‘People do get hurt at this firm. They work with Israeli private intelligence firms who are willing to do essentially whatever if you pay them. This is why so many people ... are afraid to come forward to talk about the firm, because it’s intimidating.’’
Wylie said that Dan Muresan, his predecessor, died in Kenya in 2012 after a ‘‘deal went sour’’, adding: ‘‘People suspected that he was poisoned in his hotel room. I also heard that the police got bribed to not enter the hotel room for 24 hours.’’
Muresan’s friends and family say that he had a hectic life and died of a heart attack.
Ted Prill, a friend of Muresan and a former contractor for SCL, the company that created Cambridge Analytica, said: ‘‘It was just an unfortunate and horribly sad event, but it was a coincidence that he was in Kenya.
‘‘Dan was certainly burning the candle at both ends, and the clock ran out there. He never expressed a concern over his safety.’’
Wylie said SCL had been an unscrupulous organisation that undermined democratic institutions, distributing violent videos with the intention of intimidating voters.
He said SCL had employed Black Cube, an Israeli private intelligence company, in Nigeria to get access to the medical records and private emails of Muhammadu Buhari, who is now the country’s president.
Black Cube denied the allegations.
AggregateIQ, based in Victoria, British Columbia, issued a statement saying it had never been part of Cambridge Analytica or SCL.