Data firm tied to Don is axed by Facebook

MCCABE FIRING FALLOUT

A DATA FIRM with deep ties to President Trump has been banned by Facebook over allegations the company improperly retained the private information of more than 50 million people.

Facebook suspended Cambridge Analytica, an analysis firm that worked for Trump’s 2016 campaign, for holding on to the personal data after claiming it had been deleted.

The breach allowed the company to exploit the private social media activity of voters, according to former employees and Facebook.

In a statement, a Cambridge Analytica spokesman denied any wrongdoing.

The firm, which had financial backing from conservative billionaire donor Robert Mercer, was trying to reshape the political landscape, a former founder told The New York Times.

“They want to fight a culture war in America,” Christopher Wylie told The Times. “Cambridge Analytica was supposed to be the arsenal of weapons to fight that culture war.”

Trump campaign officials have downplayed Cambridge Analytica’s role in the 2016 election. But the company has surfaced more than once during the probes into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Wylie said a University of Cambridge psychology professor named Aleksandr Kogan built another app that harvested enough data for roughly 50 million raw profiles that included enough personal information to build profiles of voters across the country.