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Cambridge Analytica Planned To Launch Its Own Cryptocurrency (theverge.com)

Cambridge Analytica, the data analytics firm that harvested millions of Facebook profiles of U.S. voters, attempted to develop its own cryptocurrency this past year and intended to raise funds through an initial coin offering. The digital coin would have helped people store online personal data and even sell it, former Cambridge Analytica employee Brittany Kaiser told The New York Times. The Verge reports: Cambridge Analytica, which obtained the data of 87 million Facebook users, was hoping to raise as much as $30 million through the venture, anonymous sources told Reuters. Cambridge Analytica confirmed to Reuters that it had previously explored blockchain technology, but did not confirm the coin offering and didn't say whether efforts are still underway. The company also reportedly attempted to promote another digital currency behind the scenes. It arranged for potential investors to take a vacation trip to Macau in support of Dragon Coin, a cryptocurrency aimed at casino players. Dragon Coin has been supported by a Macau gangster Wan Kuok-koi, nicknamed Broken Tooth, according to documents obtained by the Times. Cambridge Analytica started working on its own initial coin offering mid-2017 and the initiative was overseen in part by CEO Alexander Nix and former employee Brittany Kaiser. The company's plans to launch an ICO were still in the early stages when Nix was suspended last month and the Facebook data leak started to gain public attention.

4 of 60 comments (clear)

  1. 1st didnâ(TM)t in a summary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    How bout not posting story summaries with your GOD DAMNED IPHONE!!!!!!!!!!

  2. So definitely it's a business plan. by OpenSourced · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Their mission statement must read something like: "To exploit and profit from misguided public trust in any recent data or computing platform, before their lack of any safeguard becomes widely known"

    Next step, I suppose they will turn into something AI related, like predictive-algorithm-guided stock investing or something equally juicy.

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    Rome taught me patience and assiduous application to detail. Virtues which temper the boldness of great, general views.
  3. If Only by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    ...they had been supporting Hilda, then all would be 100 percent OK and they would be praised for "supporting a high tech campaign".

    It is very funny indeed how the sheeple can be whipped into an outrage by the mainstream media for something WE ALL KNEW BEFORE. The business model of Facebook was no secret at all. Neither is that of Google, which is almost identical to Facebook's model.

    And let's don't start to talk about those 135 tracking companies which will load your computers with cookies for two days or less of web surfing. They ALL try to build shadow profiles and will connect it to your read id at the first opportunity.

    This is part of the Stupid Whitey phenomenon.

  4. Re:Wow! by rtb61 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Like that kind of comment went out last millennium. People kinda of should be free to express themselves via their attire and style, their choice. There should not be cause to not hire or fire someone, unless it breaches common decency, properly covered, no genitalia exposed and that would have to include camel toe and stuffing socks down your shorts. So dress or kilt or caftan or what ever should be OK for either sex and you hair colour and style, as long as it is not a pack of snakes who cares.

    Why did they want to do crypto currency, because they had a database full of gullible cryptocurrency buyers, they knew the best marketing angle for each and they could suck them into buying a ton of them, as simple as that. Rather than sell that information, they decided to exploit those weaknesses themselves, still wildly scummy though, I mean really, really scummy. A real pack of pommie crooks. The poms (Prisoner Of his/her Majesty, you don't write the 'H' but you sound it) have really be sticking to the septic tanks and make no mistake. From Blair riding the Shrub to war instead of talking him out of it, to the latest debacle, the work of the poms to make a profit out of the war on terror. They have been spending bugger all and even this time around when they actually started it (right down the the white helmets they control and the Skripal BZ incident) they spent the least and the US was sucked in to spend the most, by far (although, they were taking the opportunity presented by the poms to tests Russian (2nd string) air defence systems, to decide whether or not to directly attack Russian forces in Syria, which is now a definite no).

    Israel, UK, Saudi Arabia, how many countries are fucking over the USA?

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    Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen