MP accuses Cambridge Analytica of lying about use of personal Facebook data
The chief executive of Cambridge Analytica has been accused of “deliberately misleading” Parliament by denying allegations of harvesting personal data from Facebook users.
Alexander Nix told members of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee last month the company had not collected personal information from individuals without their consent through Facebook
apps. The company also denies it used the information to aid Donald Trump’s 2016 US presidential run, when it was hired by his campaign in order to target potential swing voters.
The committee’s chairman, Conservative MP Damian Collins, now says Mr Nix gave “false statements” during the session, amid claims that Cambridge Analytica carried out a “data grab” on more than 50 million people. In a statement, Mr Collins said the committee would contact Mr Nix in light of the allegations and ask him to explain his previous comments.
“It seems clear that he has deliberately misled the Committee and Parliament by giving false statements,” the Folkestone and Hythe MP added. “Data has been taken from Facebook users without their consent, and was then processed by a third party and used to support their campaigns. Facebook knew about this, and the involvement of Cambridge Analytica with it, and deliberately avoided answering straight questions from the committee about it.”
Whistleblower Christopher Wylie, a former research director at the firm, alleges information on Facebook users was collected by Cambridge University professor Dr Aleksandr Kogan through an app he created in 2014, called “thisisyourdigitallife”.
Facebook claim that Dr Kogan’s company, Global Science Research (GSR), then broke the site’s privacy rules by passing the data onto third parties, including Cambridge Analytica. The app, which offered users a small sum of money to take a personality test, was downloaded by 270,000 people. However, it is claimed those who did sign up unwittingly gave GSR access to their friends’ information – meaning tens of millions of people could have had their data harvested.
Mr Collins also said the committee had “repeatedly asked” Facebook if companies acquired and held data taken from users without their consent, adding the social media giant had “consistently understated” the potential risk. He called on Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg to give evidence to the committee as part of its inquiry.
“The reputation of this company is being damaged by stealth, because of their constant failure to respond with clarity and authority to the questions of genuine public interest that are being directed to them,” he said. “Someone has to take responsibility for this. It’s time for Mark Zuckerberg to stop hiding behind his Facebook page.”
Meanwhile, Mr Wylie claimed Facebook had suspended his account on the site as a result of his allegations. “Suspended by Facebook. For blowing the whistle. On something they have known privately for 2 years,” he tweeted, coupled with a screenshot of a notification reading “account disabled”.
Facebook has now suspended Cambridge Analytica and parent group Strategic Communication Laboratories (SCL) from using its platform, over the reports of potential privacy violations. The company said it had it had contracted GSR “to undertake a large-scale research project in the United States”, obtaining data and seeking “the informed consent of each respondent”. It added it had deleted all the data it had received from GSR when it was clear that information was not “obtained in line with Facebook’s terms of service”, and that it complies with all of Facebook’s data rules.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has said it continues to investigate the circumstances in which Facebook data may have been illegally acquired and used. The ICO had previously said it had “concerns” over the alleged work Cambridge Analytica carried out for the Leave.EU campaign during the Brexit referendum, but the companies denies this took place.