Last week, Facebook firmly bolted the gate after the departing horses and told the world that it was suspending Cambridge Analytica and SCL Group from Facebook. That’s the kind of announcement that should have come at least two years ago, given Facebook’s knowledge of the matter.
Last week, Facebook firmly bolted the gate after the departing horses and told the world that it was suspending Cambridge Analytica and SCL Group from Facebook. That’s the kind of announcement that should have come at least two years ago, given Facebook’s knowledge of the matter. But Facebook came forward only now as it knew the press was about to drop a huge bombshell.
Cambridge Analytica, it turns out, was able to collect Facebook data for more than 50 million Americans through an app, and then used that data to help Republican candidates, first Ted Cruz and then Donald Trump. Facebook painted itself more or less as a victim, accusing Cambridge Analytica and SCL of having abused Facebook to collect said data.
The developer who started all this, University of Cambridge psychology professor Aleksandr Kogan now says that Facebook is lying.
Facebook says in its timeline of events — Mark Zuckerberg published one as well the other day — that Kogan did not play by the rules. While he obtained Facebook user data legitimately at first, just like any other Facebook developer, he then shared that data with a third party illegally, thus violating Facebook’s policies.
Kogan calls Facebook’s side of the story a “fabrication,” according to a recent email sent to his colleagues, obtained by Bloomberg .
Kogan says he used Facebook’s platform to change the terms and conditions of the app from “research” to “commercial use,” and Facebook never flagged the change.
“Kogan violated Facebook’s policies whether or not he stated his intention to do so in his own terms of service,” Facebook spokesman Andy Stone told Bloomberg .
Kogan, who already agreed to a Facebook audit and who says he deleted the collected data when Facebook asked him to, said in the email that the FBI or any other law enforcement agencies are yet to interview him, but he would have no problem doing so.
He said in the email that his app started as an academic project, but then turned into a commercial product after being approached by the UK affiliate of Cambridge Analytica, SCL Group, back in 2013.
Here’s the kind of data Kogan’s app Qualtrics collected:
In the email, Kogan also indicated that the personality profiles he gathered may have not been that useful.
That doesn’t make it all better. Kogan and Cambridge Analytica still used Facebook to harness all that personal data. And Facebook was more than just a victim.
Kogan’s email also includes some anecdotes about his life. He was born in the former Soviet Union but moved to New York City when he was 7. He recently changed his name from Kogan to Spectre after getting married. “If I am a Russian spy, I am the world’s dumbest spy – I did, after all, change my last name to the James Bond villains,” he wrote.
