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Custom Audiences, the dubious way your personal data gets uploaded into Facebook to target you individually is finally getting some attention. Political campaigns and PACs rely on this feature to microtarget voters. Cambridge Analytica data likely uploaded to Facebook using this.
And remember: Cambridge Analytica data was based on purloined (and scraped!) Facebook data that was then unlawfully processed into political profiles (per UK law) that were then re-uploaded back into Facebook in 2016.
No journalist has covered this loop.
No journalist has covered this loop.
1. GSR harvests data from FB quiz. Sells to SCL against FB policy. (Meanwhile SCL also scraping FB?)
2. SCL builds data models combining purloined Likes w/data brokers etc attaching to voter rolls
3. SCL pre-targets voters from models
4. Uploads pre-targets into Custom Audiences
2. SCL builds data models combining purloined Likes w/data brokers etc attaching to voter rolls
3. SCL pre-targets voters from models
4. Uploads pre-targets into Custom Audiences
Step 2 broke the UK Data Protection Act of 1998 since it’s unlawful for a registered data controller to politically profile data subjects in UK without knowledge or consent. SCL/CA would’ve been fined/prosecuted by the ICO if it hadn’t filed for insolvency in UK.
Congress asked Facebook if the RU IRA exploited Custom Audiences but they didn’t ask if Cambridge Analytica also exploited this feature.
I’ve never seen anyone on the record saying CA uploaded into CA but consultants tell me it would’ve been professional malpractice *not* to.
I’ve never seen anyone on the record saying CA uploaded into CA but consultants tell me it would’ve been professional malpractice *not* to.
Remember: It doesn’t really matter if Cambridge Analytica was “effective” if it was illegal.
