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Tag: Cambridge Analytica

  • Facebook loses younger users – Survey

    The world largest social media platform Facebook is losing a large number of young users as about one in four of them had removed the app from their smartphones in the past one year, a new Pew Research Center survey.

    The survey found that a whopping 44 per cent of users aged between 18 and 29 have removed Facebook’s app from their phones in the past 12 months, and about 42 per cent have taken a break from checking the platform for several weeks or more.

    The findings coincided with Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg’s appearance before a U.S. Congress hearing on Wednesday on how Facebook addresses political content on the platform.

    Facebook has been under heavy scrutiny for the way it handled privacy issues and misinformation activities over the past months since a scandal erupted earlier this year following revelations that a former British consulting firm Cambridge Analytica had illegally accessed data of more than 87 million Facebook users without their knowledge.

    The Pew surveyed more than 3,400 U.S. Facebook users in May and June, and found that more than 54 per cent of users aged 18 and older have adjusted their privacy settings.

    Read Also: Facebook’s definition of ‘terrorism’ helps states mute dissent – UN

    The number of young people who deleted their Facebook app is about four times higher than that of users who are 65 years and older, with about 12 per cent senior users quitting the app in the past 12 months, said the Pew study.

    Older users were less frequently adjusting their privacy settings with only a third of them doing so, in comparison with the 64 percent of younger users more willing to do the readjusting.

    An estimated 9 percent of Facebook users have downloaded the personal data about them after Facebook updated its privacy settings to make it easier for its users to download the data collected by the social media site, according to the Pew study.

    The survey showed that among the users who have downloaded their private data from the Facebook platform, nearly half of them, or 47 per cent, have dropped the app from the cell phone.

    It showed that majority 79 per cent chose a higher level of security options in their privacy settings in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

  • Cambridge Analytica and sanctity of Nigeria’s polls

    Sir: Did Cambridge Analytica (CA), the British data analysis firm that reportedly swung the Brexit votes for the “Leave” (European Union) camp in the UK and helped propel Donald Trump to the White House in the US – both by exploiting voter fears and anxieties, interfered in the electoral process of Nigeria and Kenya? That’s the question many people are asking as the next Nigerian elections scheduled for early 2019 is fast approaching.

    CA, the controversial data analysis firm founded in 2013 has before the recent Facebook scandal run “psychological-operations” in war zones, “advised” dictators in Asia, led “counter-terrorism missions” in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia and have “swung” elections in far places as India and Latvia. But CA only came to the public domain following revelations by Christopher Wylie, a former CA employee whose testimony to British lawmakers helped unveil how the personal data of 87 million Facebook users (including that of Facebook founder and CEO – Mark Zuckerberg) were harvested and used – and the shady workings of a company he described as one “that goes around the world undermining institutions in countries that are still struggling with weak institutions”.

    To complicate things further for CA, Britain’s Channel 4 aired an investigative reporting that showed Mark Turnbull, managing director of CA and its sister company SCL (Strategic Communication Laboratories) boasting on how the company helped Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta secure the presidency in 2013 and 2017 respectively.

    “We have rebranded the entire party [Mr. Kenyatta’s Jubilee], written the manifesto, done research, analysis, messaging. I think we wrote all the speeches and we staged the whole thing”, Turnbull was heard as saying. The Channel 4’s footage also shows how CA, as explained by the company’s executives, could entrap politicians in compromising situations with bribes or sex workers, and also spread misinformation online.

    CA in both Nigeria and Kenya where in the words of Nanjala Nyabola, a Kenyan commentator “election manipulation is a matter of life and death” have gone to unethical lengths to target two veteran opposition candidates – Muhammadu Buhari in the Nigerian election of 2015 and Raila Odinga in the Kenyan elections of 2013 and 2017.

    Targeted social-media advertisements, many containing dangerous ethno-nationalist rhetoric were directed at the Orange Democratic Movement’s Raila Odinga. Short videos that featured apocalyptic scenes spread by the “Real Raila” (probably CA) on social media labeled Odinga as “Lord of war” and “Lord of poverty” that will lead Kenya into chaos. Odinga was even smeared as an al-Shabab (the Somali militant group that has carried out attacks in Kenya) sympathizer.

    In Nigeria, Wylie’s testimony to British lawmakers, that a Nigerian billionaire (still unknown)  hired CA to support the Jonathan-led PDP administration during the 2015 elections is alarming. The company with the help of an Israeli spy firm “Black Cube” hacked President Muhammadu Buhari, then an opposition candidate in 2015 to obtain his medical records and personal emails.

    This was later used to spread fake news and anti-Muslim sentiment against Buhari who was depicted as a supporter of Shariah law and someone that would suppress dissenters and negotiate with “terrorists” – thereby slip Nigeria into anarchy.

    “It was voter suppression of the most crude and basic kind”, that’s how another former employee tagged the dirty tricks the company he once worked for go about the world doing in order to influence elections in their client’s favour.

    As Nyabola noted, “CA, of course, did not invent this type of amoral interference in Africa – as it is pervasive and as old as the relationship between Africa and the West”. She argues that CA only benefitted from technology to replicate and exacerbates the biases and behaviour that exists offline. The sad truth is African lives continue to mean little in the pursuit of profit (since politicians continue to spend money on these “consultants” and “spin doctors”).

    Even though CA’s manipulative tactics during the polls of 2015 did not have an influence on the outcome of the elections, the fact remains that such incendiary messages and videos circulated on social media help create the hate speech dilemma Nigeria is currently in, which by extension could be exploited yet again during the 2019 polls if precautionary mechanisms are not put in place.

     

    • Labaran Yusuf,

    Jos, Plateau State.

  • Facebook: Zuckerberg, says his own data shared by Cambridge Analytica

    The Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday told lawmakers that he was among the 87 million or so Facebook Inc users whose data was improperly shared with political consultancy Cambridge Analytica.

    But the chief executive of the world’s largest social media network pushed back on Congress members’ suggestions that users do not have enough control of their data on Facebook.

    The 33-year-old internet billionaire told U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee that “every time someone chooses to share something on Facebook, there is a control, right there. Not buried in the settings somewhere, but right there.”

    Zuckerberg’s admission that his own data made its way into the hands of Cambridge Analytica lay bare that even the company’s technologically adept founder was unable to protect his own information from parties seeking to exploit it.

    The admission underscores the problem Facebook has in persuading lawmakers that users can safeguard their own information if they carefully manage their personal settings and that further legislation governing Facebook’s use of data is unnecessary.

    “How can consumers have control over their data when Facebook does not have control over the data?” asked Representative Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the ranking Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee.

    However, Zuckerberg repeatedly defended the company’s privacy practices, saying users have control over their own data and decide what to share.

    But when asked if his data had been improperly used he replied: “Yes” and gave no further details.

    The latest estimate of affected users is up to 87 million.

    The data was improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica by an academic, who gathered data on users and their friends through a questionnaire app on Facebook.

    Facebook had shut the ability of apps to gather such data, but Zuckerberg said on Wednesday that it would
    take “many months” to complete an audit of other apps to determine if they also improperly used data.

    The House hearing followed a five-hour questioning by U.S. Senators on Tuesday, in which Zuckerberg made no further promises to support new legislation or change how the social network does business.

    Facebook shares were up 1.2 per cent on Wednesday after dips earlier in the day.

    They posted their biggest daily gain in nearly two years on Tuesday as Zuckerberg managed to deter any specific discussion about new regulations that might hamper Facebook’s ability to sell ads tailored to users’ profiles.

    “It is inevitable that there will need to be some regulation” of internet firms, Zuckerberg said on Wednesday, but he again steered away from any specifics.

    Reuters/NAN

  • Facebook alerts users affected by Cambridge Analytica scandal

    Facebook would start informing its users on Monday if their information “may have been’’ improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica.

    Cambridge Analytica is a consultancy suspected of improperly using the data of as many as 87 million people.

    In a statement, Facebook said that 70.6 million people affected were based in the U. S.

    Up to 2.7 million Facebook users in the EU were affected, with another two million affected in the Philippines and Indonesia.

    Other countries affected include Mexico, Canada, India, Brazil, Vietnam and Australia, according to Facebook.

    In a further effort to improve transparency after the scandal, Facebook would send all 2.2 billion of its users a notice that would allow them to see what apps they use and what data they are sharing with those apps.

    The company said this would allow people to shut off the apps completely or turn off third-party access to their apps.

    Cambridge Analytica is at the centre of a debate over whether it used the personal data of millions to influence the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election and the Brexit referendum.

    “I started Facebook, and at the end of the day I’m responsible for what happens on our platform,’’ Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said. “I’m serious about doing what it takes to protect our community.’’

    Zuckerberg is set to testify before U.S. lawmakers this week.

    NAN

     

  • 2.7m EU users affected by data privacy scandal – Facebook

    Facebook says up to 2.7 million Facebook users in the European Union have been affected by the data privacy scandal, a spokesman for the European Commission said on Friday.

    “Facebook confirmed to us that the data of overall up to 2.7 million … people in the EU may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica,” said Christian Wigand, a commission spokesman.

    On Wednesday, Facebook admitted that it had “improperly shared” the personal data of 87 million Facebook users, an increase of more than 30 million from previous estimates, with the British data analysis firm Cambridge Analytica.

    The firm used the information, without users’ consent, to support the campaign for Britain’s exit from the European Union, as well as the 2016 election campaign of U.S. President Donald Trump.

    The U.S. social media giant revealed the full extent of the data breach in the EU in a letter Thursday evening responding to questions by EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova.

    “We will follow the letter in more detail, but it is already clear that this will need further follow-up discussions with Facebook,” Wigand said.

    He noted that Jourova is set to have a phone call with Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg “On Monday.”

    dpa/NAN

  • UK paper releases Cambridge Analytica’s anti-Buhari video

    The Guardian of London has published the video used by Cambridge Analytica to influence, unsuccessfully, the Nigerian presidential election in 2015.

    The video, which was obtained from the whistleblower, Christopher Wylie, used graphically violent imagery to portray candidate Muhammadu Buhari as a supporter of sharia law who would brutally suppress dissenters and negotiate with militant Islamists.

    Wylie passed the video passed to British MPs and The Guardian has now published it on You Tube

    In testimony to the digital, culture, media and sport (DCMS) select committee last week, the whistleblower said: “[The video was distributed] in Nigeria with the sole intent of intimidating voters. It included content where people were being dismembered, where people were having their throats cut and bled to death in a ditch. They were being burned alive. There was incredibly anti-Islamic, threatening messages portraying Muslims as violent.”

    Wylie also said Cambridge Analytica directed AggregateIQ (AIQ), the Canadian digital services firm that worked for Vote Leave during Britain’s EU referendum, to target voters with the video during the Nigerian presidential campaign.

    Wylie, a former Cambridge Analytica employee, has now handed the material to MPs. Giving testimony last week, he said: “Cambridge Analytica sent AggregateIQ the video after they [CA] got banned from several online ad networks because the graphic nature of the content violated the terms of service. AIQ was quite freaked out about it. It’s a very disturbing video. They told Cambridge Analytica that. They called it ‘the murder video’.”

    https://youtu.be/XiR5ZM4tb9E

    In his testimony Wylie said: “AIQ is the firm that’s right at the heart of the official Vote Leave campaign – one-third of all leave spending went through it – and this shows them working closely with Cambridge Analytica to distribute violent, divisive Islamophobic material that should be nowhere near an election campaign.” There is no suggestion that AIQ was involved in the production of the video.

    Cambridge Analytica was hired by a Nigerian billionaire to run a campaign in support of Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian, and the video was targeted at his Muslim opponent, Muhammadu Buhari, who went on to win the election. There is no suggestion that Jonathan was aware of the campaign.

    The anti-Buhari video imagines a future in which he is president and sharia law has been imposed. “Coming to Nigeria on February 15th 2015,” the voiceover says in the manner of a trailer for a Hollywood movie. “Dark. Scary. And very uncertain. Sharia for all.”

    It poses the question: “What would Nigeria look like if sharia were imposed by Buhari?” It suggests he would strike a deal with the Islamist militant group Boko Haram that would be “a pact with the devil”.

    The video also suggests “Buhari will punish all who speak against the regime” and that “women will be veiled”. It ends by saying: “You can stop this movie becoming real.”

    Culled from theguardian.com

  • I’m not aware of alleged Cambridge Analytica fraud, Jonathan insists

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday insisted that he was not aware of the alleged electoral fraud raised against Cambridge Analytica.

    The current administration is said to be scrutinizing the reports of the data mining firm Cambridge Analytica, which swiped the data of more than 50 million Facebook users to sway elections in many country including Nigeria.

    It was said to have waged a campaign to perpetuate discord and hack into personal records of the then leading opposition Candidate, Muhammadu Buhari in 2007.

    To get to the bottom of the issue, the Federal Government is said to have set up an in-house committee to investigate whether Cambridge Analytica’s work for the then ruling party, the People’s Democratic Party, PDP in 2007 and 2015 general elections campaigns to break the laws of this country or infringed on the rights of other parties and their candidates.

    Depending on the outcome of the investigation, a special investigator may be appointed and possibly, criminal prosecutions by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.

    But a statement on Thursday by Jonathan’s spokesman, Ikechukwu Eze, entitled “Re: ‘Jonathan unaware PDP used Cambridge Analytica, spokesman claims’” reads “My attention has been drawn to a trending story entitled ‘Jonathan unaware PDP used Cambridge Analytica, spokesman claims’.

    “I write to clarify that there is an element of mischief in the story, with the reporter disingenuously seeking to drag the People’s Democratic Party into the report, and make the party look like an accomplice, in a case it was not even mentioned.

    “The truth is that in my reaction to a question from an AFP reporter in a telephone chat on whether the former President knew about the alleged involvement of Cambridge Analytica in the 2015 elections, I had simply responded thus: “All the stories written about the subject
    so far had all clarified that Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was not aware of such attempt, if there were any.”

    “Although I was correctly quoted, to the effect that “former President Jonathan was not aware of it”, I consider the attempt to link my response with an orchestrated PDP involvement in the allegation as simply preposterous. This is because the PDP was neither mentioned in
    the scandal nor came up in my chat with the reporter. It is instructive that the whistleblower who originated the allegation has been consistent in associating it to an unnamed businessman, who was neither linked to the party nor to the Jonathan campaign.

    “It is therefore deceitful for any pundit to blame the allegation on the PDP or anybody close to the former President, even before investigations were concluded,” he stated.

    Read Also: Alleged fraud: Court asks Jonathan’s cousin to enter defence

  • Fed Govt to probe Cambridge Analytica attacks on Nigeria

    *You’re chasing shadows, says PDP

    THE Federal Government is scrutinising the reports that data mining firm, Cambridge Analytica, had access to materials taken from (then opposition candidate) Muhammadu Buhari’s personal e-mail.

    The email was hacked into in a bid to influence the 2015 elections for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The firm is presently under probe in Europe and the United States (U.S.) for hacking into more than 50 million Facebook users’ data to sway elections in many countries.

    A report which emerged during the ongoing probe states that an Israeli firm gave the materials on President Buhari to Cambridge Analytical.

    Cambridge Analytical was hired for two million pounds by former President Goodluck Jonathan to orchestrate a ferocious campaign against Buhari.

    According to reports, SCL Elections, a public relations firm, manipulated Nigeria’s 2007 by organising campaigns to weaken the chances of opposition parties.

    As part of its engagement, the company organised “anti-election rallies” to demoralise opposition supporters from voting in the elections, which saw the emergence of Umar Yar’Adua as Nigeria’s president.

    The Cambridge Analytica team came up with a video to portray Candidate Buhari as a leader who would enforce Sharia Law in Nigeria.  It was intended to sway the minds of millions of Nigerians and vote for the PDP candidate.

    A Presidency source said the Federal Government had set up an in-house committee to investigate whether Cambridge Analytica’s work in the 2007 and 2015 general elections campaigns broke any Nigerian law or infringed on the rights of other political parties and their candidates.

    It was learnt that the outcome of the investigation might lead to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami appointing a special investigator and possibly criminal prosecutions.

    A whistleblower, Christopher Wylie who worked with a Cambridge University academic to obtain the data, told the Observer, a United Kingdom (UK) newspaper that : “We exploited Facebook to harvest millions of people’s profiles. And built models to exploit what we knew about them and target their inner demons. That was the basis the entire company was built on.”

    Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu said he had not been briefed on the issue but insisted that Nigerians deserved answers from the PDP administration, the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica on why they improperly obtained and used data to interfere in Nigerian elections.

    He said an investigation, if instituted, should help to determine if there was a linkage between the various killings and maiming that characterised Nigeria’s elections since 2007.

    He said it would also help Buhari to achieve his wish to leave a legacy of improved elections.

    Also, Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN) urged the National Assembly to enact a data protection law.

    The experts stated that the law would prevent unauthorised organisations and external forces from accessing private information of Nigerians, adding that it would contribute to national cybersecurity.

    CSEAN President Remi Afon, in statement yesterday from the United Kingdom, urged the lawmakers to probe Facebook Chief Executive, Mark Zuckerberg for his involvement in the scandal and three other organisations.

    But the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the Federal Government  was chasing shadows with the planned probe.

    PDP National Publicity Secretary Kola Ologbondiyan said while it welcomes an open investigation into the Cambridge Analytica saga, it demanded that such inquest be extended to cover the sources of the “looted funds” used to prosecute Buhari’s campaign in 2015.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Facebook chief apologises for data breaches

    Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has admitted that the social network “made mistakes” that led to millions of Facebook users having their data exploited by a political consultancy.

    The BBC reports that Cambridge Analytica is accused of improperly using the data on behalf of political clients.

    In a statement, Mr. Zuckerberg said a “breach of trust” had occurred.

    In a later interview with CNN the Facebook founder said he was “really sorry”, and pledged to take action against “rogue apps.”

    Mr. Zuckerberg added that he was “happy” to testify before Congress “if it’s the right thing to do.”

    In his statement posted on Facebook, he promised to make it far harder for apps to “harvest” user information.

    “We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can’t then we don’t deserve to serve you,” he said.

  • Facebook under pressure as U.S., EU call for probes into data practices

    British privacy regulators are seeking a warrant to search the offices of the political consultancy Cambridge Analytica, following reports that the company may have improperly gained access to data on 50 million Facebook users.

    The move came as U.S. and European lawmakers demanded an explanation of how the consulting firm, which worked on President Donald Trump’s election campaign, gained access to the data.

    In the U.S., members of Congress called on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to testify about Facebook’s actions.

    Facebook said on Monday it had hired forensic auditors from the firm Stroz Friedberg to investigate and determine whether Cambridge Analytica still had the data.

    “Auditors from Stroz Friedberg were on site at Cambridge Analytica’s London office this evening,” the company said in a statement late Monday.

    “At the request of the UK Information Commissioner’s Office, which has announced it is pursuing a warrant to conduct its own on-site investigation, the Stroz Friedberg auditors stood down.”

    Facebook shares closed down nearly 7.0 per cent on Monday, wiping nearly $40 billion off its market value as investors worried that new legislation could damage the company’s advertising business.

    “The lid is being opened on the black box of Facebook data practices, and the picture is not pretty,” said Frank Pasquale, a University of Maryland law professor who has written about Silicon Valley’s use of data.

    Also on Monday, a source said that Facebook head of security, Alex Stamos, plans to leave the company over disagreements about the company’s policies on misinformation.

    He had been a strong advocate for an aggressive approach to alleged Russian activity on the platform aimed at manipulating elections.

    His departure was first reported by the New York Times. Facebook declined immediate comment.

    In a tweet, Stamos did not deny he was leaving but said: “Despite the rumors, I’m still fully engaged with my work at Facebook. It’s true that my role did change.”

    The criticism of Cambridge Analytica presents a new threat to Facebook’s reputation, which is already under attack over Russia’s alleged use of Facebook tools to sway U.S. voters with divisive and false news posts before and after the 2016 election.

    London-based Cambridge Analytica said it strongly denied the media claims, and that it deleted all Facebook data it obtained from a third-party application in 2014 after learning the information did not adhere to data protection rules.

    However, further allegations about the firm’s tactics were reported late Monday by British broadcaster Channel 4 which said it secretly taped interviews with senior Cambridge Analytica executives in which they boasted of their ability to sway elections in countries around the world with digital manipulation and traditional political trickery.

    Cambridge Analytica rejected the allegations, saying in a statement that the Channel 4 report “is edited and scripted to grossly misrepresent the nature of those conversations and how the company conducts its business.”

    Facebook was already facing calls on Saturday for regulation from the U.S. Congress after the reports in the New York Times and London’s Observer over the weekend.

    Republican Senator John Kennedy called on Zuckerberg to testify before Congress, and Democratic Senator Ron Widen sent a letter to Zuckerberg asking about company policies for sharing user data with third parties.

    Facebook usually sends lawyers to testify to Congress, or allows trade organizations to represent it and other technology companies in front of lawmakers.

    Facebook and other social media companies including Twitter Inc and Alphabet Inc’s YouTube have taken voluntary steps to restrict possible foreign interference and combat false news, but they have not been forced by law or regulation to make changes and legislation on the issue has stalled.

    Late on Monday, the Connecticut Attorney General said the office will initiate an inquiry into Facebook data policies.

    The Senate was expected to move forward on Monday with a bill that would chip away at the internet industry’s legal shield, a decades-old law known as Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, with a bill intended to address online sex trafficking.

    The measure has already passed the House and is expected to soon become law.

    Reuters/NAN