Twitter also sold data to Cambridge Analytica researcher: Report

LONDON: After Facebook, every other primary social media outlet Twitter has now been caught up within the knowledge scandal involving Cambridge Analytica, the British political consulting firm which accrued the knowledge of nearly 87 million Facebook users with out their knowledge and permission, in keeping with a media record.

Aleksandr Kogan, who created tools for Cambridge Analytica that allowed the political consultancy to psychologically profile and goal voters, purchased the knowledge from the microblogging website online in 2015, earlier than the new scandal came to gentle, The Sunday Telegraph reported.

Kogan had established Global Science Research (GSR), which was once granted access to Twitter knowledge. The educational mentioned the ideas had most effective been used to create "brand reports" and "survey extender tools" and that he had no longer violated Twitter's policies.

Kogan purchased tweets, usernames, pictures, profile footage and placement knowledge from Twitter over a five-month duration between December 2014 and April 2015 through his GSR, the record mentioned.

Earlier this month, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had admitted creating a "huge mistake" as non-public knowledge of as much as 87 million users can have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica.

Zuckerberg, 33, had mentioned that he authorized blame for the knowledge leak, which has angered users, advertisers and lawmakers, whilst additionally announcing he was once nonetheless the correct person to go the company he founded.

According to the record, whilst maximum tweets are public, Twitter fees corporations and organisations to gather them en masse.

Large datasets are specifically useful for development a pattern of public opinion or receptiveness to sure subjects and ideas, although Twitter bans corporations from the use of the knowledge to derive delicate political knowledge or matching it with non-public knowledge received elsewhere, it mentioned.

"Twitter has also made the policy decision to off-board advertising from all accounts owned and operated by Cambridge Analytica. This decision is based on our determination that Cambridge Analytica operates using a business model that inherently conflicts with acceptable Twitter Ads business practices," a Twitter spokesperson mentioned.

"Cambridge Analytica may remain an organic user on our platform, in accordance with the Twitter Rules," the spokesperson added.

A Cambridge Analytica spokesperson mentioned the company used Twitter for political advertising but insisted that it had never "undertaken a project with GSR focusing on Twitter data and Cambridge Analytica has never received Twitter data from GSR".

It added that "Cambridge Analytica is a data-driven marketing agency and does not manipulate political views."

Kogan advised the House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media & Sport Committee remaining week that his corporate, GSR, was once created in 2014 purely to create datasets for SCL - the dad or mum team of Cambridge Analytica.


GSR advanced a Facebook app that reportedly accrued knowledge from individuals who signed up to use the app in addition to knowledge from their Facebook pals, with out the specific approval of all involved. Kogan accused Cambridge Analytica's now-suspended CEO Alexander Nix of "total fabrication" when it came to denying the links between Cambridge Analytica and GSR's knowledge.


Social-media corporations have come underneath intense scrutiny over reports that Facebook failed to protect the privacy of its users. Companies like Twitter generally tend to have access to less personal knowledge than Facebook.


About 270,000 other people downloaded Kogan's personality-quiz app, which shared knowledge on the other people and their pals that then was once improperly passed to Cambridge Analytica.


Zuckerberg has testified in front of Congress in regards to the misuse of data, and lawmakers have referred to as on Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Google's India-born CEO Sundar Pichai to testify as smartly.
Twitter also sold data to Cambridge Analytica researcher: Report Twitter also sold data to Cambridge Analytica researcher: Report Reviewed by Kailash on May 01, 2018 Rating: 5
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