All these days, we had been hearing about Russian interference in the 2016 US Election using social media. Now the story line is changing... Finally the truth has started to reveal itself to put shame on the Russophobes...
Cambridge Analytica formally accused of violating US election laws
RT : 26 Mar, 2018
Cambridge Analytica, the British firm at the center of the Facebook data mining scandal, has been accused of violating US election laws in new legal complaints filed by government watchdog Common Cause.
The watchdog group has filed legal complaints with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the Department of Justice, accusing Cambridge Analytica of violating federal laws which prohibit foreigners from direct or indirect participation in US political campaigning.
Cambridge Analytica, which worked with the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election, is accused of mining the data of 50 million Facebook users, without their explicit knowledge or consent, and then attempting to use it to influence voters.
The Trump campaign is reported to have paid the British firm more than $5 million for its services. Records also show that seventeen other Republican campaigns and political groups paid the firm $16 million for similar services.
The legal complaints against Cambridge Analytica refer to a memo in which lawyer Laurence Levy warns company CEO Alexander Nix that foreign nationals “may not play strategic roles” in US campaigns but that they can “act as functionaries that collect and process data” so long as the final analysis of the data is done by American citizens.
Levy suggested in the alleged memo that Nix, as a foreign national, should recuse himself from “substantive management” of clients involved with American elections, but that advice was ignored by Cambridge Analytica, the complaints say. The defendants in the case are all non-US citizens.
Common Cause has called for the FEC and the Department of Justice to investigate and impose appropriate sanctions on Cambridge Analytica for election law violations.
The watchdog’s vice president for policy and litigation, Paul S. Ryan, said it “defies belief” that, even after their own lawyer warned them they would be violating federal law, they did so anyway.
“A full investigation must be conducted, and if Cambridge Analytica and its staff did in fact repeatedly violate our laws, then there must be punishment levied sufficient to deter similar lawbreaking in future,” Ryan said.
Cambridge Analytica has denied any wrongdoing, but said it takes recent allegations of unethical practices “very seriously”.
“As anyone who is familiar with our staff and work can testify, we in no way resemble the politically-motivated and unethical company that some have sought to portray,” acting CEO Alexander Taylor said in a statement.
Earlier today, the Federal Trade Commission confirmed it was investigating Facebook over its privacy practices.
In a statement, the FTC said it took recent reports raising concerns over the social media giant’s privacy policies “very seriously” and that there was an “open, non-public” investigation into those practices.
Selected Comments:
# Hey Common Cause...so why didn't you have a problem with them when they were collecting for Obama?
# Sanctions on the UK now eh, uncle Sam?
# It's conspiracy have to charge Facebook too. They provided the info.
# Can you charge Cambridge Analytica without charging it's co-conspirator because Facebook facilitated and participated in a common scheme and purpose????
= = =
Cambridge Analytica pitched ‘psychological profiling’ services to multiple US campaigns - report
RT : 10 Apr, 2018
Cambridge Analytica boasted about its possession of unique data in pitches to multiple Republican election campaigns after harvesting personal information from 87 million Facebook users, a new report reveals.
The data mining firm, which worked for President Donald Trump's campaign in 2016, pitched its “unique” data and “psychological profiling” abilities, which could be used to micro-target voters on Facebook, according to a Channel 4 News report.
According to the documents seen by Channel 4, Cambridge Analytica told prospective clients that its data had been successfully used by the North Carolina Republican Party, the conservative For America advocacy group and a number of Republican campaigns in Arkansas, North Carolina and New Hampshire, which were funded by the John Bolton Super PAC.
Cambridge Analytica claimed it had been able to “accurately predict partisanship, turnout, issue importance and build psychographic profiles” for voters in North Carolina.
“We produced clusters of voters based on the modeled data to maximize campaign impact, which enabled the creation of tailored messages directed to specific voter groups,” the company said.
The firm even boasted that they had been able to boost turnout among target voters by about eight percent. Adverts created by Cambridge Analytica were “tailored to voter personality profiles” and had “clear calls to action” that reminded people to vote.
The company detailed how it had categorized voters according to personality types in North Carolina in 2014. For example, young female voters who care about the economy and immigration were shown video commercials focusing on those issues. Voters with “high neuroticism” were targeted with ads that prompted fears about national security.
In a statement to Channel 4, Facebook said that Cambridge Analytica has certified that it destroyed the data in 2015. The UK data regulator is now investigating the truth of that claim, Facebook added.
On Tuesday, Facebook began notifying users whose information could have been shared with Cambridge Analytica. The social media platform said it has introduced “a number of measures” to tighten its systems in light of recent revelations.
Cambridge Analytica told Channel 4 News that the data in question was “not Facebook data” but from another company called Cint, which surveyed 40,000 users with their consent.
The company released a statement on Monday, claiming that it did not break any laws and that it did not “hack” Facebook to collect any data. It also claimed that it is “politically neutral” and works across the political spectrum.
Testifying before members of the US Congress on Tuesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said it was “clear now” that his company did not do enough to prevent apps that share personal data from being used for harm “It was my mistake, and I'm sorry. I started Facebook, I run it, and I'm responsible for what happens,” Zuckerberg said.
Cambridge Analytica formally accused of violating US election laws
RT : 26 Mar, 2018
Cambridge Analytica, the British firm at the center of the Facebook data mining scandal, has been accused of violating US election laws in new legal complaints filed by government watchdog Common Cause.The watchdog group has filed legal complaints with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the Department of Justice, accusing Cambridge Analytica of violating federal laws which prohibit foreigners from direct or indirect participation in US political campaigning.
Cambridge Analytica, which worked with the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election, is accused of mining the data of 50 million Facebook users, without their explicit knowledge or consent, and then attempting to use it to influence voters.
The Trump campaign is reported to have paid the British firm more than $5 million for its services. Records also show that seventeen other Republican campaigns and political groups paid the firm $16 million for similar services.
The legal complaints against Cambridge Analytica refer to a memo in which lawyer Laurence Levy warns company CEO Alexander Nix that foreign nationals “may not play strategic roles” in US campaigns but that they can “act as functionaries that collect and process data” so long as the final analysis of the data is done by American citizens.
Levy suggested in the alleged memo that Nix, as a foreign national, should recuse himself from “substantive management” of clients involved with American elections, but that advice was ignored by Cambridge Analytica, the complaints say. The defendants in the case are all non-US citizens.
Common Cause has called for the FEC and the Department of Justice to investigate and impose appropriate sanctions on Cambridge Analytica for election law violations.
The watchdog’s vice president for policy and litigation, Paul S. Ryan, said it “defies belief” that, even after their own lawyer warned them they would be violating federal law, they did so anyway.
“A full investigation must be conducted, and if Cambridge Analytica and its staff did in fact repeatedly violate our laws, then there must be punishment levied sufficient to deter similar lawbreaking in future,” Ryan said.
Cambridge Analytica has denied any wrongdoing, but said it takes recent allegations of unethical practices “very seriously”.
“As anyone who is familiar with our staff and work can testify, we in no way resemble the politically-motivated and unethical company that some have sought to portray,” acting CEO Alexander Taylor said in a statement.
Earlier today, the Federal Trade Commission confirmed it was investigating Facebook over its privacy practices.
In a statement, the FTC said it took recent reports raising concerns over the social media giant’s privacy policies “very seriously” and that there was an “open, non-public” investigation into those practices.
Selected Comments:
# Hey Common Cause...so why didn't you have a problem with them when they were collecting for Obama?
# Sanctions on the UK now eh, uncle Sam?
# It's conspiracy have to charge Facebook too. They provided the info.
# Can you charge Cambridge Analytica without charging it's co-conspirator because Facebook facilitated and participated in a common scheme and purpose????
= = =
Cambridge Analytica pitched ‘psychological profiling’ services to multiple US campaigns - report
RT : 10 Apr, 2018
Cambridge Analytica boasted about its possession of unique data in pitches to multiple Republican election campaigns after harvesting personal information from 87 million Facebook users, a new report reveals.
The data mining firm, which worked for President Donald Trump's campaign in 2016, pitched its “unique” data and “psychological profiling” abilities, which could be used to micro-target voters on Facebook, according to a Channel 4 News report.
According to the documents seen by Channel 4, Cambridge Analytica told prospective clients that its data had been successfully used by the North Carolina Republican Party, the conservative For America advocacy group and a number of Republican campaigns in Arkansas, North Carolina and New Hampshire, which were funded by the John Bolton Super PAC.
Cambridge Analytica claimed it had been able to “accurately predict partisanship, turnout, issue importance and build psychographic profiles” for voters in North Carolina.
“We produced clusters of voters based on the modeled data to maximize campaign impact, which enabled the creation of tailored messages directed to specific voter groups,” the company said.
The firm even boasted that they had been able to boost turnout among target voters by about eight percent. Adverts created by Cambridge Analytica were “tailored to voter personality profiles” and had “clear calls to action” that reminded people to vote.
The company detailed how it had categorized voters according to personality types in North Carolina in 2014. For example, young female voters who care about the economy and immigration were shown video commercials focusing on those issues. Voters with “high neuroticism” were targeted with ads that prompted fears about national security.
In a statement to Channel 4, Facebook said that Cambridge Analytica has certified that it destroyed the data in 2015. The UK data regulator is now investigating the truth of that claim, Facebook added.
On Tuesday, Facebook began notifying users whose information could have been shared with Cambridge Analytica. The social media platform said it has introduced “a number of measures” to tighten its systems in light of recent revelations.
Cambridge Analytica told Channel 4 News that the data in question was “not Facebook data” but from another company called Cint, which surveyed 40,000 users with their consent.
The company released a statement on Monday, claiming that it did not break any laws and that it did not “hack” Facebook to collect any data. It also claimed that it is “politically neutral” and works across the political spectrum.
Testifying before members of the US Congress on Tuesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said it was “clear now” that his company did not do enough to prevent apps that share personal data from being used for harm “It was my mistake, and I'm sorry. I started Facebook, I run it, and I'm responsible for what happens,” Zuckerberg said.
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