Facebook has had a tough week in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica data scandal and is now being scrutinized by governments around the world, including investigations and hearings. Cambridge Analytica is a data mining company offers strategies for marketing and political gains by utilizing information taken from social media.
A leak from a former Cambridge Analytica employee stated that the political data analytics company accessed the information of over 50 million Facebook users without their permission. Cambridge Analytica is said to have gotten personal data from a quiz taken by 270,000 Facebook users. It is against Facebook rules for companies to get access to user information in this way. Facebook discovered the data breach in 2015, but nothing was done to secure the data and no repercussions were placed on Cambridge Analytica.
Cambridge Analytica was hired by Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016 to do digital work, TV ads, and polling in swing states. Now there is an outcry for the social media giant to secure the privacy of its users and there’s even a #DeleteFacebook movement that is backed by the WhatsApp co-founder who made billions from Facebook.
