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Twitter Sold Data Access To Cambridge Analytica-Linked Researcher (bloomberg.com)

Posted by msmash on from the me-too dept.

Facebook is clearly the company most affected by the Cambridge Analytica data sharing scandal, but that doesn't leave other social networks completely unscathed. Bloomberg: Twitter sold data access to the Cambridge University academic who also obtained millions of Facebook users' information that was later passed to a political consulting firm without the users' consent. Aleksandr Kogan, who created a personality quiz on Facebook to harvest information later used by Cambridge Analytica, established his own commercial enterprise, Global Science Research (GSR). That firm was granted access to large-scale public Twitter data, covering months of posts, for one day in 2015, according to Twitter. "In 2015, GSR did have one-time API access to a random sample of public tweets from a five-month period from December 2014 to April 2015," Twitter said in a statement to Bloomberg. "Based on the recent reports, we conducted our own internal review and did not find any access to private data about people who use Twitter." The company has removed Cambridge Analytica and affiliated entities as advertisers. Twitter said GSR paid for the access; it provided no further details.

52 comments

  1. All this is proving one thing - by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    people are sheep. Present company included.

    1. Re:All this is proving one thing - by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, OK, so who are the shepherds?

      They are people as well, I presume.

    2. Re:All this is proving one thing - by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      baaaaaa? baaa!!!

    3. Re:All this is proving one thing - by hey! · · Score: 1

      Well, people being sheep was given, but what all this proves is that social media companies are wolves.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    4. Re:All this is proving one thing - by sexconker · · Score: 1

      No, here ate Slashdot we're cows. MOOOOOOOOOOOO.

  2. Scandal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's only a scandal because Hillary lost.

    1. Re: Scandal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Exactly. The exact same company / tactic was used by Obama in 2012 ...

    2. Re: Scandal by kenh · · Score: 1

      The exact same company / tactic was used by Obama in 2012 ...

      Yes, but that was used to elect a black man, not a white one...

      --
      Ken
    3. Re: Scandal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No -- what Obama did was perfectly fine because I LIKED giving my data to Obama and if he had asked he would've had my permission to do so
      But Trump is evil and he had no right to read my facebook posts and tweets without my permission!

    4. Re: Scandal by squiggleslash · · Score: 0

      The exact same company? Obama used Cambridge Analytica?

      (Also this is a fairly reasonable analysis of the whole whataboutism thing that implies Obama's use of Facebook data willingly given up by participants knowing it would be used by the Obama campaign is in some way the exact same thing as CA's use of "surveys" which were apparently unconnected to politics to get people to give up their private data.

      In the case of Cambridge Analytica, information was gathered from users and given to a third party under false pretenses. According to Facebook, University of Cambridge psychologist Aleksandr Kogan created a personality quiz which users could download in an app called âoethisisyourdigitallife.â Kogan presented the app as a tool that would be used for academic research â" but the work was paid for by Cambridge Analytica. Facebook users were not informed that their data (and that of their friends) would be deployed by a political firm hired by the Trump campaign for psychographic profiling in the upcoming election.

      So can we quit it with the false equivalences?

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    5. Re: Scandal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's the problem with filthy rich people today; they live in a bubble of believing whatever they want to believe and think the rabble should believe the same. Its a total disconnect. The irony being, this is a path to allowing yourself to become what you hate the most.

    6. Re: Scandal by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Can we quit it with the hair spitting to separate equivalent things? Even if Obama had more willing co-conspirators, not everybody who's data was collected volunteered.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    7. Re: Scandal by kenh · · Score: 1

      No, we will not...

      --
      Ken
    8. Re: Scandal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Even if Obama had more willing co-conspirators, not everybody who's data was collected volunteered.

      Sure, it was bullshit that facebook gave access to data from a user's 'friends.' But in 2012 that was expressly permitted by facebook's terms of use. In 2015 facebook reversed that policy. That's why the clinton campaign did not do it.

      That's not just hair-splitting, that's the difference between following the rules and breaking the rules.

    9. Re: Scandal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are lying. And you know you are lying. Two different cases, one broke a lot of rules. The other one didn't.

      You know what's right and wrong,
      But since it interferes with your world view, you keep lying.

    10. Re: Scandal by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1

      Do some googling and restrict your searches to 2008-2012 and you'll see how Obama used "revolutionary" methods on social media to help his campaign. Hell Facebook even had a meeting with him. Today Trump uses it and the sky is falling.

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    11. Re: Scandal by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1

      The act of using Facebook gives them permission to collect your data.

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
  3. Good. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's a free market bitches.

  4. This Is My Shocked Face by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    :o

    I still find it hilarious that Cambridge Analytica keeps getting raked over the coals. The collectors/aggregators of this information Facebook/Twitter/ChoicePoint are the real problems, at least after the stupid users.

    1. Re:This Is My Shocked Face by houstonbofh · · Score: 1

      Actually, every Tom, Dick, and Harry giving up all their personal information to find out what Disney princess they most resemble is the problem! None of my data was sold! But I have turned off platform apps in Facebook and do not take the stupid quizzes.

    2. Re:This Is My Shocked Face by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 2

      We can't talk about that... Because how else can we maintain the mantra of "Russia Russia Russia!" if, in fact, the source of the problem is a bunch of rich liberals from San Francisco, selling out data to the "opposition"?

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    3. Re: This Is My Shocked Face by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So rich libturds sold our data to rich repubtards. The repubtards broke rules and violated the TOS. But it's somehow the libturds fault? They both are equally to blame.

    4. Re:This Is My Shocked Face by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      None of my data was sold! But I have turned off platform apps in Facebook

      All of your data was sold. That's how Facebook works.

      If you have a Facebook account, you got sold!

      If you have an Instagram account, you got sold!

      If you have a Twitter account, you got sold!

    5. Re:This Is My Shocked Face by houstonbofh · · Score: 1

      Yes, they sold what they had. Which is nothing other then the e-mail I used to register. No phone number. No location data. No contacts list. With no app installed, they have a lot less to mine.

  5. LMAO @ mental loon Zontar the Mindless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    See subject: It's always a pleasure showing everyone how stupid you are drug addict mentalboy https://tech.slashdot.org/comm... you piece of SHIT from a country of men w/ NO BALLS & yes, you're from Sweden shitbag!

    Which you tried LYING about to me after your twisted weak ass sent me a postcard from there (like the obsessed stinking little MENTALBOY whimp w/ "depression" (lmao, whimp) & drugged up CREEP you are fucker) but too bad I saw your post about the restaurant in Stockholm recently.

    * You & yours from "SWEDEN"? NO BALLS - you let your women get RAPED by muslims (whereas MY TRIBE, poles, DROVE THEM OFF when all the rest of Europe, except Lithuania, RAN)!

    You pitiful little no balls worms (which is WHY You are HOW you are - you can't help it - you're DESCENDED FROM SHITBAG PUNKS!)

    APK

    P.S.=> Truth HURT cocksucker? Meet me in person (you 'brag' you're a 'world-traveller' (big deal, I've seen europe too) 'rich man' (not - you're just some impoverished little LOSER, no questions asked) - come meet me FACE TO FACE & talk your shit to me bitch... apk

    1. Re:LMAO @ mental loon Zontar the Mindless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't see Zontar anywhere in this thread.

      I do see (((APK))) talking to himself again, but there's nothing remarkable about that.

    2. Re:LMAO @ mental loon Zontar the Mindless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      * You & yours from "SWEDEN"? NO BALLS - you let your women get RAPED by muslims (whereas MY TRIBE, poles, DROVE THEM OFF when all the rest of Europe, except Lithuania, RAN)!

      Actually you can thank multiculturalism for that. The attitudes of Islamic culture concerning things like how to treat women, how to govern, and how to live are simply not compatible with prevailing European cultures. In the precious name of immigration and refugees (taking refuge from the environments their own Islamic ideas have created) much of Europe is being flooded with Muslims who have absolutely no intention to integrate. Many of them favor implementing Sharia Law in their host country. These are the people who celebrate "honor killings" even when the victim is a close relative.

      Anyone who opposes this madness with its predictable outcome is called a "racist" and branded with a scarlet R (and in much of Europe, can be imprisoned). Strange how white people are a 14% minority worldwide yet only white nations need diversity. No nation or institution is ever proclaimed "too Arab" or "too black" and in need of diversity. It's nothing more than an increasingly obvious effort to destroy white culture.

      You're right about the men having no balls. Men with their balls in place would oppose a movement to destroy them and everything they have built over the ages. It's part of why the drive for immigration is strongly correlated with the female vote (along with the nanny state). Despite the way this Islamic culture regards women as disposable property, at least their men will fight for something. It explains much of the fascination white women have with other races (whereas a white man in a mixed-race couple is a rare sight).

    3. Re:LMAO @ mental loon Zontar the Mindless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He's polish. All eastern-europeans and russians trash talk, it's a national talent and ought to be enjoyed for what it is. If you do it right, you can get them really riled up for the fun of it. I call this the magic ratio: You say one sentance right, you'll get 100 sentances of trash talk and incoherent swearing in return.

    4. Re: LMAO @ mental loon Zontar the Mindless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Allahu akbar!

    5. Re: LMAO @ mental loon Zontar the Mindless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You claim that you only attack people when they attack you. Zontar is nowhere to be found, yet here you are attacking him. That makes you a liar, and you know it.

      This is hardly the first time you've engaged in such behavior, and a Google search reveals your long history, nearly 20 years, of attacking people. People should associate your name with security software, yet because of your rampant attacks and harassment, it's actually associated with your vile behavior.

      You become unreasonably angry whenever someone criticizes you, especially when they post anonymously or from a pseudonym that you can't readily associate with a real name and other contact information. This, of course, angers you greatly because it limits your ability to extend the harassment beyond the confines of a particular website like Slashdot. You have a long history of threatening legal action against anyone who criticizes you or disagrees with you online, as evidenced by your threats on Arstechnica dating back to at least the early 2000s. It would be incredibly unwose for anyone to provide personal information to you, lest you use it to search for compromising information to harass them with or to make threats toward them. Your threats, of course, are frivolous, because no judge, jury, or law enforcement officers would approve of your nasty behavior. Nonetheless, your behavior is absolutely unwelcome.

      You are becoming increasingly deranged, getting angrier and angrier with each additional post. Your obsession with Zontar is truly disturbing, much like a jilted lover who then proceeds to stalk, harass, and defame his ex.

      By the way, you're not a real man. I'm 100% certain of this. A real man has the integrity to admit when he's wrong and to be accountable for his actions. You almost never admit when you're wrong, despite it being on display for all to see, and the numerous people who point it out to you.

      By the way, I'm not looking for anyone to mod you down. I frankly don't care. If you get modded down, your asinine posts are hidden so they don't obstruct legitimate discussion of the article. However, if your post got modded to +5, I'd be okay with that, too. It would increase the visibility of your posts so everyone can see what a nasty person you are, allowing you to more effectively destroy your reputation with anyone who might not already be aware of your nastiness.

      If you post a personal attack in response to my post, it will only provide yet further evidence that you're a deranged psychopath. Feel free to humiliate yourself yet again.

    6. Re: LMAO @ mental loon Zontar the Mindless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      APK's rubbish got dusted yet again. Don't expect a reply from him. He knows you're right, and like you said, he's incapable of admitting he's wrong about anything. Rather than admit the truth, he'll ignore your post or launch unrelated personal attacks. He might even accuse you of being Zontar because in his mind, every anonymous coward just has to be Zontar. He'll probably claim the original post was actually someone impersonating him, now that he's seen how poorly his nonsense was received. That's his typical tactic, to claim he was impersonated when people criticize one of his posts.

    7. Re: LMAO @ mental loon Zontar the Mindless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How do you get a one armed APK(polock) out of a tree?

      Answer: wave to him. o/

  6. Trump Eunuchs cheer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They love being violated.

    1. Re:Trump Eunuchs cheer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I want you to pull on my wee wee

  7. OMG! by kenh · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You mean companies with no discernable product other than the information their users share with them in exchange for free service sold that information to pay for the free service their users enjoy! Who could have seen this coming?

    --
    Ken
    1. Re:OMG! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You mean companies with no discernable product other than the information their users share with them in exchange for free service sold that information to pay for the free service their users enjoy! Who could have seen this coming?

      Anybody could have.. But that's not what this is about... Hillary lost an election she was supposed to have won, that's what this is about.

      Yes, I'm calling this partisan political games, because it is...

    2. Re: OMG! by kenh · · Score: 1

      Oh, did I forget my /sarcasm tag?

      Hillary was promised the White House just as soon as Barack Obama was done with it, problem was, her supporters are too clustered in too few states, hence she won the popular but lost the electoral vote. Too bad all her supporters like to cluster in the same few states.

      --
      Ken
    3. Re:OMG! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Kootenai County Republicans passed a resolution last year to have the US out of NATO.

      That's a county in rural Idaho.

      The Twitter's and FaceBook's of the world have not been helpful to Democracy.

    4. Re: OMG! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yawn. You sound bitter sweet tits.

      You sound like a petulant child.

      But but but Hilary. LUL. Grow the fuck up.

  8. where is the illegality? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I still don't know what Cambridge Analytica did wrong or was against the law. And is Cambridge Analytica associated with Cambridge University? Aside from having "Cambridge" in common, what does one have to do with the other?

    If its an issue of inappropriately accessing private data, I would think that the blame falls mostly on Facebook and Twitter.

    1. Re:where is the illegality? by Destoo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I think the wrongdoings is that a UK company interfered with an US election.

      The issue is that Palantir technology (and probably data) was used by Cambridge Analytica. And THIS is what's scary. A UK based control of a US "Weapon of Mass Disruption".

      Read up the details on Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/feat...

      --
      Nouvelles de jeux et technologies en français. TC
    2. Re:where is the illegality? by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Did you feel the same way about Obama interfering with the Israeli election? Why or why not?

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    3. Re: where is the illegality? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      YOU KNOW there is a HUGE difference. One broke the rules and TOS, while the other didn't.

      But you know this. You are just a repubtard cocksucker who doesn't want to admit whT his party did was wrong.

    4. Re: where is the illegality? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why do we care more about Facebook's ToS than the abuse of our private data to manipulate us? What is it about violating a ToS that makes you recoil in horror, when the systematic manipulation of your private data does not?

    5. Re:where is the illegality? by Destoo · · Score: 1

      As a Canadian I don't feel. I just expose facts and logic. (sorry for that)

      Obama interfering with an Israeli Election is legal in the US.

      (I think.. Why would US legislate about stuff happening in another country's election?) If they did make a law against it, then yes it would be illegal.
      If they did not legislate, then it would be "unethical", but not illegal. Israel might have a law against it and it would be up to them to put pressure on the American government to stop.

      "A 2016 study by Dov Levin found that, among 938 global elections examined, the United States and Russia combined had involved themselves in about one out of nine (117), with the majority of those (68%) being through covert, rather than overt, actions."

      Russia, because yes Russia has a big probability of being the main actor here, don't care if a Donkey, an Elephant or the Easter Bunny is POTUS. They're playing a game and using disruption fits their goal.

      --
      Nouvelles de jeux et technologies en français. TC
  9. Oh noes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... they had access to PUBLIC data. OMFG, TWITTER IS AS BAD AS FACEBOOK!!!

    msmash=Facebook fanboy fucktard

  10. Reminds me of song... by TheZeitgeist · · Score: 1

    What's that hayseed song from Team America..."Freedom isn't free? It costs a hefty f*'kin fee." Song needs a rework "Facebook isn't free, the bill is data from you and me."

  11. Twitter by DivineKnight · · Score: 1

    Twitter -> "We did it for money!"

  12. KIll all 'social media' by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 2

    Do all of you not see that so-called 'social media' is a cancer on our civilzation? Get it out of your life starting with today, and encourage everyone you know to do the same. No such thing as 'safe' social media, it will all be abused no matter how many laws they pass.

    1. Re:KIll all 'social media' by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just pass a law making social media illegal. One law, problem solved.

  13. There's more, little brother by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    There's much more.

    It's not just Twitter and FB, and the numbers they're admitting are far smaller than the numbers that they actually have released data on.

    Far, far smaller.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  14. Social Media has its place by WoodstockJeff · · Score: 1

    Somewhere about 1200km deep in the atmosphere of Saturn would be about right.