Cambridge Analytica
Latest
What's on TV this week: 'Another Life'
This week we're loaded with new stuff to watch on streaming, including Katee Sackhoff in a new non-Battlestar Galactica science fiction series, Another Life. Also new on Netflix this week is The Great Hack, a documentary focusing on the Cambridge Analytica election scandal, season two of Canada's Workin' Moms and the final season of Orange is the New Black. If you prefer Amazon, then check out its superheroes-gone-bad series The Boys -- season two is already in the works. On disc, Battle Angel: Alita brings its uncanny hero to Blu-ray, while for sports fans there's the USATF championships, WNBA All-Star game and F1 action from Germany. Finally, for gamers there's Wolfenstein: Youngblood across several platforms, and Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot is ready for play in virtual reality. Look after the break to check out each day's highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).
Senators grill FTC over reported $5 billion Facebook settlement
Facebook's reported $5 billion settlement with the FTC isn't even official yet, but that isn't stopping politicians from bristling at it. Senators Richard Blumenthal, Josh Hawley and Ed Markey (pictured) have sent a letter to the FTC requesting answers about the rumored settlement, expressing worries that the penalty would be "woefully inadequate" given privacy violations like the Cambridge Analytica affair. The questions cover not just the rationale behind the supposed deal, but the evidence gathering methods and punishments beyond the fine.
D.C. case against Facebook over Cambridge Analytica will proceed
Early Friday, a judge sided with Facebook shareholders who demanded the company hand over emails and records related to its handling of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Later in the day, the company was denied again in court, as Reuters reports that Judge Fern Flanagan Saddler denied its motion to dismiss or stay a lawsuit filed by the Washington D.C. attorney general over the same incident. D.C. AG Karl Racine is suing Facebook over many failures, including a claim that it knew Cambridge Analytica had obtained user data over two years before the leak was revealed. According to the district's lawsuit, the CA cache contained info on 340,000 of its residents. A court filing in this case revealed there's an email between senior managers indicating they knew about the company's "improper data-gathering practices" as early as September 2015, years before it blew up in 2018. Whatever happens in this case, a deal with the EU means Facebook is on hook for future scandals, and a settlement with the FTC could include changes to make CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally liable.
Judge demands Facebook hand over data privacy records
Facebook will have to hand over emails and records related to how it handled the Cambridge Analytica scandal. In September, shareholders sued the company in order to obtain information pertaining to the leak. Today, a US judge sided with shareholders, ordering Facebook to release the documents.
Canada says Facebook broke privacy laws in Cambridge Analytica scandal
Facebook is facing yet more legal trouble over the Cambridge Analytica scandal after Canada's privacy commissioner said it violated federal and provincial privacy laws. Daniel Therrien plans to take the company to federal court in the hopes of forcing Facebook to change its privacy policies.
Facebook will be liable for future Cambridge Analytica-style scandals
Facebook is updating its terms and conditions after agreeing several changes with the EU. It will have to clearly explain to users they can access the social network for free because it uses targeted ads that rely on user data. Facebook will also have to disclose what revenues it generates through the use of such data.
Facebook knew about Cambridge Analytica prior to 'Guardian' exposé
Facebook has admitted that it suspected Cambridge Analytica of scraping data from the platform even before the first reports about its massive data collection were published. The Guardian has learned about the social network's suspicion from a court filing by Washington DC's attorney general's office, which sued the company over the scandal. That filing opposed Facebook's motion to seal one of the documents the attorney general submitted to the court: an email exchange between the social network's senior managers revealing that they knew of CA's "improper data-gathering practices" as early as September 2015. The Guardian didn't publish its first piece on Cambridge Analytica until December 2015, and the scandal didn't blow up until 2018.
Facebook board member may have met Cambridge Analytica whistleblower in 2016 (updated)
Facebook has never said when its execs learned about Cambridge Analytica's misuse of data, but The Guardian might have some insights. Its sources claim Facebook board member Marc Andreessen met Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Christopher Wylie back in the summer of 2016, well before the scandal became public. Reportedly, the meeting in Andreessen's office was established to understand just how Cambridge Analytica was using the data and how Facebook could solve it. It's not clear who else was present, but the discussion apparently included Cambridge Analytica's "contacts with Russian entities."
UK parliament calls Facebook leaders 'digital gangsters'
Facebook and its execs have been labeled "digital gangsters" in a UK parliamentary report that calls for the company to be regulated. The 180-page document -- which lays out the findings of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee's 18-month investigation into fake news -- concludes that Facebook wilfuly broke data privacy and competition laws.
Mueller subpoenas Cambridge Analytica director in Russia probe
Cambridge Analytica may be no more, but those connected to it are facing an increasing amount of scrutiny. Former business development director Brittany Kaiser has confirmed to The Guardian through a spokesman that US special counsel Robert Mueller subpoenaed her as part of a broader investigation into potential links between President Trump's election campaign and the Russian government. While the exact nature of the questioning hasn't been made public, Kaiser said it came soon after she'd acknowledged meeting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in February 2017.
