1/ Livetweeting former #CambridgeAnalytica Director of Program Development Brittany Kaiser giving evidence to @CommonsCMS
Livestream: parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/e5…
Livestream: parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/e5…
2/ Here is Kaiser’s written testimony.
3/ Kaiser chronicles her time before going over to the dark side. Collins bumps her up to get to the good stuff. Like when she was introduced to Nix. “Let me get you drunk and steal your secrets.”
4/ Collins asks about her employee status at #CambridgeAnalytica, consultant until Feb 2015, when she became full-time. She attempted to get a consultant gig, so not exactly a clean break from the company in January.
5/ Kaiser describes her role with Nix, Wheatland, Tayler and her access to data at #CambridgeAnalytica and SCL Group. She was locked out of her sclgroup.cc inbox but found an offline copy provided to DMCS.
6/ Kaiser describes the corporate structure, in the questions about whether #CambridgeAnalytica is a hollow shell company. Yep. Asked about Emerdata, the new entity discovered by @WendySiegelman which Kaiser discovered in the press.
7/ Kaiser lists countries she’s worked i. Nigeria, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico. Collins asks about Malta, Isreal, Germany pitches (CDU pitch). French election in 2015, but data use was “not advisable.” Was data use legal without consent (Nope!) Strict rules saved France!
8/ Collins asks about @Channel4 undercover videos. Kaiser claims to have never heard about that type of work. Asked about Czech Republic work. Claims not to be aware. Argentina? First project she was involved in. Pitched to current president.
9/ Where were you predominantly based? Moved back and forth between London, Alexandria VA, NYC and Mexico.
10/ Asked about political work in UK, especially LeaveEU. MP refers to archived SCL site that refers to UK work. Kaiser claims that website material was faked to win LeaveEU work.
11/ Asked about if Kaiser believes claims of UK work. She disputes that a cached website is a claim. What? A new memory of Scottish political pitches for research, modeling, communications. More probing into old emails for more info.
12/ Asked about freelancers that worked for SCL Group/CA. Who introduced CA to LeaveEU? BANNON. In France, Sarkozy’s campaign was pitched by Nix. In Lithuania, a Mayoral campaign. Mexico, current party in government. Yikes.
13/ Back to Emerdata, AggregateIQ, and the Nix interview and if DMCS was “blindsided” by omission. Kaiser agrees. Asked about Kogan data set and questionable questionnaires, using Facebook to harvest data from “Sex Compass” and music tastes. Kogan’s “data might have compromised?”
14/ AggregateIQ was exclusive digital data engineering partner, platform for Cruz campaign harvesting canvasing and “hygiening” data. Relationship became strained, late deliveries, Boardmembers may have had ownership of AIQ. Late 2015, peak of “strains”; asked about LeaveEU work.
15/ Asked about Facebook quizzes that had login at the end to harvest data to clarify this conflicts with Nix’s previous statements to committee. Watch for this tomorrow.
16/ Asked about data transfer agreement between SCL and AIQ. Recounts tensions, but drilling down to data sharing issues to trace where it might have ended up. Wiley was working for SCL Canada and AIQ.
17/ Tracing provenance of LeaveEU data, UKIP engagement, got their data especially survey data, data matched to membership to generate personality types, made into briefing material for insights for communications.
18/ £41.5K worth of work, Banks made a donation to UKIP to cover it. Says it never passed over. ~£500K or up to £800K worth of work depending. Phase I was billable and was client UKIP or LeaveEU? What about data transfer between them? Legal concerns, weird legal opinion issues.
19/ This is all really confusing. It’s a lot of work to untangle this. Banks sought integration of data streams inclusive of insurance company data. Kaiser suggests that work was carried out, just not by the foreign company #CambridgeAnalytica; concerns of breaches of DPA!
20/ Was UK citizens personal data sent abroad to Mississippi? To Canada? That would not be good. Data matching with Experian in UK explored. A litany of Data Protection Act violations here, it’s crazy.
21/ Kaiser asked about Nix’s statement that CA data transferred to SCL Group. There should have been no access between two companies, but no difference between political, commercial, and defense work. Found docs from Oakes TAA was export controlled because it was a weapon! WOW.
22/ Collins revisits use of TAA, a classification of weapon export designation in 2014, did not get renewed in 2015. Restricted product was used against population. Psychographics uses even more data than TAA. Oh man.
23/ Describing bringing UKIP and survey data into office for modeling. Who did the work? Copied model and built Big Data Dolphin from Ole Miss University, per Banks, Wigmore. That would be unlawful I think, to process that data abroad. Oh geez.
24/ Banks’ insurance customers called by 20 person call center. There were legal concerns especially to begin Phase II. Kaiser asked Wheatland for the go-ahead. Data analysis from insurance was matched, modeled, the more the better, appended. Survey designed for training set.
25/ Asked about Facebook dataset. Upload data into custom audiences and then do lookalikes to find more leavers. Matching by emails for 1to1 targeting would be the technique. 400 pts per person in UK vs 4000 ppp in US. Millions min required for ~95% for confidence.
26/ Contact between Facebook and CA in 2015? Kaiser knew late April 2015 that API would be closed. Tayler told Kaiser to find 500 Facebook Groups in May. Somehow got data. FB asked CA if they had data from GSR. They did. “Deletion” in Jan 2016, long after.
27/ Email from March 2016 refers to still having Facebook Like data, after January 2016 claim of deletion. Whoops.
28/ Told they had no UK citizen data. Asked about why harvesting from FB Groups? Collins asked FB about membership of Groups that FB downplayed to committee. Users who had Liked group harvested.
29/ Kaiser describes opt-in (EU) vs opt-out (US) consent model. Attitudes in company was wild west was key of Nix’s attitude to get into US biz while lax data laws while still possible to unethically harvest American data. See how our reckless privacy attitude harmed our country?
30/ Let’s talk about Nigeria. Black Cube? Oppo research, hacking. Came to HQ to show what they had extracted. Docs showed details about David Axelrod. Didn’t find info useful. Kaiser claims not to know about Black Cube. Showed video w/opposition undercover infiltration.
31/ Unethical campaign infiltration was normal for American politics, Kaiser claims. Wow.
32/ On Buhari as a illegitimate candidate as war criminal, video of killings, Kaiser made aware of “campaign portfolio” after the fact, in 2015. Made her uncomfortable, yet stayed with company. Mentions Sam Patten, as contractor who produced. Questions Kaiser’s decision to stay.
33/ Kaiser rejected AfD and Le Pen introductions by Bannon? or Wheatland?, Farage? on the subject of her ethical boundaries.
34/ Kaiser described appeal of SCL’s ability to achieve “measurable” results vs liberal work which wasn’t “successful” frustratingly. Asked her age (30), education degrees, started her PhD on atrocities. Nix asked her drop her research to join CA. My goodness.
35/ Asked about PACE Group and Qaddafi work in Libya. Asked about her new blockchain ventures. Source of inability to maintain relationship with Nix. Ever worked for any intelligence agency, asset or resource? She briefed State Dept on her activities.
36/ Kaiser’s grandfather was military officer and taught her what to look out for when she’d be approached by agent and how to say no.
37/ Asked about Chase Ergen (hey @annmarlowe) and diplomatic passports from St Kitts, Dominican Republic.
38/ Asked about initial meeting with LeaveEU, 3 individuals across 3 organizations including insurance companies to discuss cost savings across projects and data sourcing. Was invoice ever paid? Banks made donation. Thinks money never went to CA but didn’t persue legal recovery.
39/ Business was booming in US at time. Unpaid invoice from Alexandria VA office.
40/ Asked about pig.gi in Mexico and Columbia (Chase Ergen’s venture) which gives mobile phone discounts for data harvesting and surveys via blockchain. Registered in Gibraltar to evade potential digital asset laws. cc @annmarlowe
41/ Asked about her friend’s satellite business in Mexico, and data collection capabilities. Last contact with Nix was at Davos at blockchain event.
42/ Asked about her two sets of business cards, SCL Group. Pay-slip was SCL Group, later SCL USA, never Cambridge Analytica. As registered Democrat she had issues.
43/ Asked about Sam Patten, and interactions with former Isreali intelligence officers as consultants. Examples of intelligence gathering competencies, to track fraud, laundering. Collins asks if it was hacking to do financial tracing. Criminal acts concerning? New on the job.
44/ Collins asks about weird structure, consultants hiring consultants who you don’t know, maybe doing criminal activity, shielded from liability. Kaiser says she’s just trying win contract for SCL Group, that’s all, “disorganized”, not “intentional”
45/ Collins asks about Breitbart UK data used in referendum. US Breitbart data was used in US campaign. Issues around using media data for political. A thread for follow-up. Hoo boy.
46/ Collins asked about allegations of LeaveEU breaking UK Data Protection Act for processing and blending, matching, and modeled data inappropriately. Would be illegal if proper opt-in consent not conducted. Interest to ICO. She wasn’t aware of all implications.
47/ Undertaking work even though they were warned by legal opinion about UK DPA violations, at minimum couldn’t leave UK territory, and required opt-in. Means processing data in Mississippi is probably a big issue. Big Data Dolphin at Ole Miss.
48/ Kaiser asked about Sophie Schmidt internship, intersections with Microsoft, Facebook, with Cambridge Analytica as a client for advertising services.
49/ Collins asks about Sam Patten’s work across campaigns around the world and in US, especially in Caribbean. Asked about legislative improvements required. Kaiser describes needs for transparency, portability, deletion, self-monetizing personal data, property rights. My cause!
50/ On Nix’s relationship with Assange, but @EmmaLBriant evidence suggests a more direct communications. Asked about her interactions with Wikileaks. She used them for academics. Through Doughty Street, John Jones QC she sought Assange. She had her own links to Assange. /FIN
51/ ANNOUNCEMENT: Nix won’t appear tomorrow! May get summons!
52/ Corrections/Clarifications: No evidence presented by Kaiser that Black Cube was involved. @chrisinsilico says he never worked for AggregateIQ.
53/ Dispute with Kaiser’s statement/characterization over her activity in Libya by none other than @annmarlowe
54/ Correction/Clarification: *Chris* Ergen was early investor in pig.gi and Chris and Chase Ergen co-founded Mowisat and then took their names off via @annmarlowe
For more background:
– fastcompany.com/40477438/cambr…
– fastcompany.com/40556882/mexic…
For more background:
– fastcompany.com/40477438/cambr…
– fastcompany.com/40556882/mexic…
