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Justice Department, FBI Are Investigating Cambridge Analytica (cbsnews.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from CBS News: The Justice Department and FBI are investigating Cambridge Analytica, the now-shuttered political data firm that was once used by the Trump campaign and came under scrutiny for harvesting data of millions of users, The New York Times reported on Tuesday. The Times, citing a U.S. official and people familiar with the inquiry, reported federal investigators have looked to question former employees and banks connected to the firm.

The Times reports prosecutors have informed potential witnesses there is an open investigation into the firm, whose profiles of voters were intended to help with elections. One source tells CBS News correspondent Paula Reid prosecutors are investigating the firm for possible financial crimes. A company that has that much regulatory scrutiny is almost guaranteed to have federal prosecutors interested, Reid was told. Christopher Wylie, a former Cambridge Analytica employee who spoke out about the data sharing practices, told the Times federal investigators had contacted him. The American official told the Times investigators have also contacted Facebook as a part of the probe.

139 comments

  1. Fake news. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Invented by CNN.

    Trolls will try to discredit me by accusing me of being a paid Russian troll. The truth is, the people trying to discredit me are paid DNC trolls, operating with funds supplied by Russian oligarchs.

    1. Re:Fake news. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Awww, right wing shill cant handle the truth about fat Nixons Russian treachery, makes piss weak attempt to discredit those with double digit IQ that call his mumbo jumbo for the unadylterated bullshit it is.
      Poor Boris, sad.

    2. Re: Fake news. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The information blackout at the Fake News is keeping the Dims totally ignorant.

    3. Re: Fake news. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh? Sorry, Nixon, Chinese. Get your facts straight. Remember because of yellow hair, we are a priah nation. Not the beacon on the hill.

    4. Re: Fake news. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow, you made all that up yourself. Good luck with that

    5. Re: Fake news. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He is calling trump "fat Nixon", GP needs to remember the right wingers are slow.

    6. Re:Fake news. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about we just discredit you for being stupid

  2. What was visionary in 2012 is a crime in 2016 by Jarwulf · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Gotta hand it to Trump, if nothing else he did what no other politician or internet freedom activist over the last several decades could. He got people to finally care about privacy. People weren't only indifferent. They were slobbering in ecstasy over the likes of google and obama for vacuuming all their PI everyday. Trump changed all of this. Maybe indirectly due to the fact that people couldn't stand him allegedly benefiting but change the game he did.

    1. Re:What was visionary in 2012 is a crime in 2016 by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 0

      He got some people to finally care about privacy.

      FTFY. 20M people quit Facebook which isn't even a tenth of the number of fools that have signed up in the US.

      People weren't only indifferent. They were slobbering in ecstasy over the likes of google and obama for vacuuming all their PI everyday. Trump changed all of this.

      Exposing the depths (and more importantly the success) of manipulation by Cambridge Analytica is what woke some people up. However, this is just a repeat of the same old selfish pattern: people don't really care about some issue until it affects them personally. Do you think Trump voters suddenly cares about their privacy? I'm betting they are as indifferent as ever.

      --
      Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    2. Re:What was visionary in 2012 is a crime in 2016 by Balial · · Score: 1

      So are you willfully ignorant of the whole contract violation part that Cambridge Analytica engaged in that the others didn't? Or are you just that clueless?

    3. Re:What was visionary in 2012 is a crime in 2016 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So are you willfully ignorant of the whole contract violation part that Cambridge Analytica engaged in that the others didn't?

      Contract violation? That's rich. We're dealing with information warfare here. I was especially amused by Facebook's request that they "delete" the data. What do they think happens in the real world? I swear, Silicon Valley types are frightfully naive sometimes.

      Or are you just that clueless?

      Those who go through life relying upon contracts are the clueless ones. The world is full of cheats, liars and scoundrels and many of them wear nice clothes and study law, not because they care about law or justice, but because they want to become better and more professional manipulators and liars.

    4. Re:What was visionary in 2012 is a crime in 2016 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      Funny thing is that Orange Baboon hired a foreign company to spy and brainwash American people. And at same time his slogan was about making America great.

    5. Re:What was visionary in 2012 is a crime in 2016 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People are saying Trump's going to die in prison. Sad!

    6. Re: What was visionary in 2012 is a crime in 2016 by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      Anonymous Cowards are crapflooding that. It's boring and disappointing. The older non-political crapflooding was at least a little amusing. But rendering 'impeach' as a word with similar weight and meaning as 'benghazi!' is productive, so carry on with your tedious role.

    7. Re:What was visionary in 2012 is a crime in 2016 by sycodon · · Score: 2

      I signed up with a fake account simply to watch my kid's concerts which were streamed on Facebook.

      It's also fun to post crazy shit and troll various organizations. As long as you don't go over the top, all you are doing is fucking up FB's data and also give people a few laughs and you stay under the FB radar.

      --
      When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    8. Re: What was visionary in 2012 is a crime in 2016 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People say a lot of stupid things. And even stupider people repeat them.

    9. Re:What was visionary in 2012 is a crime in 2016 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I signed up with a dummy account to verify security settings were working, and sure enough within a few days it was suggesting my friends and family. Different browser, so it wasn't cookies, unless hitting the website can check other browsers for them, or they track by IP...

    10. Re:What was visionary in 2012 is a crime in 2016 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just wait until we find out what 0bama did. You "woke centerists" are the biggest retards in history, and won't be remembered kindly.

    11. Re:What was visionary in 2012 is a crime in 2016 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Obama tried to stop global warming and give some kind of health care for the American people. Trump has done nothing but reversing his predecessors laws. Except perhaps tweeting, golfing and wasting government money for his own holiday trips.

    12. Re:What was visionary in 2012 is a crime in 2016 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't see a reason to quit because - there is nothing that I give up on facebook I don't expect everyone to know -what? my birthday, public records? the fact that I watch star wars and make music - if you think that you need to pay for that you are not so bright - when you look at the model of what facebook thinks I am it is the wrong race, gender, age, everything - so their model sucks for someone like me. The other thing is that I don't really read it all that much except for some non political groups and to talk to my mom, so all that meme targeting shit really does nothing for me.

  3. Investigate What exactly? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    That they don't like the outcome?
    That its ok for commercial purposes, but not in elections?
    Clear proof that voters can get accurate targeted information that alters 'default' vote patterns.
    That the info/dirt can be used from other countries, legally if the lawyers do their bit properly.
    Phoenix operations. Next time there will be the same manipulation from wherever. The issue cannot be resolved as data is global.

    Unless the USA enacts data privacy laws, it will remain the wild west, and the best funded party with the most 'tricks' wins.

  4. Re:So will they...... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  5. Re:So will they...... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  6. Re:So will they...... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Bwa ha ha, Someone using "The View" as a standard for political accuracy.

    Go away, you a f-ng useless.

  7. Let's get... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Let's get the Presidential Pardons ready.

  8. Shuttered? by Black+Parrot · · Score: 1

    Didn't they just change their name? Or am I thinking of some other association of shysters?

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    1. Re:Shuttered? by SeaFox · · Score: 1

      That's what I remember, too. We should stop calling them by their old name, as that only plays into their game of trying to dissociate themselves from their past actions.

    2. Re:Shuttered? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerdata

      That's what they are trying to rebrand themselves as, so be sure to use their old and new name together.

      CAPTCHA: tyrants

    3. Re:Shuttered? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's Emerdata now.

      They will probably do a second namechange later on like Blackwater / Xe Services / Academi did. (Founded by Betsy DeVos brother b.t.w.)

      The name is just marketing anyway, keep track of the people behind it instead:

      Jennifer and Rebekah Mercer are directors of Emerdata, and are the daughters of ultra-wealthy businessman Robert Mercer who created and bankrolled Cambridge Analytica.

      Source: cambridge analytica shutdown

      It doesn't matter how many companies they have or what they name them. If you see those names behind it it is probably part of organized crime.

    4. Re: Shuttered? by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1, Troll

      Or am I thinking of some other association of shysters?

      The Democratic National Committee has too much long-term name recognition value to just change their name because of some indiscrete email leaks.

    5. Re:Shuttered? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No one cared when Maxine Waters was bragging how the DNC downloaded everything on everyone from FB during Obama's election years. Where was the outrage? Oh wait....if its your side doing it, you don't care. Then I don't either.......

    6. Re:Shuttered? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This. And as long as we allow corporations and political parties to collect people's private information nothing will change other than the names.

      We needs laws followed up with trials and hopefully lots of suits doing perp walks.

    7. Re:Shuttered? by Ryanrule · · Score: 1

      It would be pretty easy to kill these people. Few hundred dead fascists never hurt anyone.

  9. Trump Hillary by labnet · · Score: 0, Insightful

    The fuss is because it benefited Trump. The company scraped a bunch of publicly available info; if it were Obama or Hillary people would be falling over themselves to call it brilliant strategy.

    --
    46137
    1. Re: Trump Hillary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Obama actually did use the same data using a different firm for his elections. This isn't new people are still butthurt that it was used by the Trump campaign.

    2. Re: Trump Hillary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Obama did not do this.

    3. Re:Trump Hillary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Becaues Trump sucks.

    4. Re:Trump Hillary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      The fuss is because it rests on data that wasn't given permission to be used in this manner - unlike before with Obama - and therefore everything that happened with the data is part of this crime - (and it does count as a crime on the UK, where the academic and CA are based).

    5. Re: Trump Hillary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure he did and there are articles praising him about it. The only difference was that we're not aware of any Facebook ToS violations for them.

      Because that's totally what everyone cares about, right? A meaningless violation of an arcane ToS, rather than using everyone's private data to manipulate the masses.

    6. Re:Trump Hillary by mrwireless · · Score: 1

      Cambridge Analytica went a step further by creating psychological profiles on all citizens, and using those to manipulate people, in some cases nudging people not to vote at all.

      If the American people that Obama's level of activity was illegal, you should act on that too.

    7. Re: Trump Hillary by Phydeaux314 · · Score: 2

      Y'know, there's a pretty big difference between "please give us your personal information so we can use it to build our statistical models to improve our chances at winning an election" and "take this vapid quiz while we hoover up all your info and all your friends' info without you knowing."

      Two people agreeing to have sex is fine. One person sneaking in to another person's house after they run into each other at the grocery store and proceeding to fuck them while they're asleep pointedly is not fine. Sure, the end result might be the same, but it turns out how you get there actually matters.

      --
      Never underestimate the stupidity inherent in all human beings.
    8. Re: Trump Hillary by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      Data mining is data mining. A checkoff box to provide some form of 'consent' is just an excuse. The fact that Facebook was approving of Obama to the point of being deep up his rear so that the data miners could enter through the Front Door is really irrelevant.

    9. Re: Trump Hillary by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 2

      It's more relevant (slightly) today to study what the email leaks reveal about the DNC. That is the proper equivalent to the 'truth' about what C.A. did in the election. Little Debbie and her snack cakes are rather odious, to be honest.

    10. Re: Trump Hillary by satcat · · Score: 2, Informative

      Also the Hillary strategy was to get people to send messages to specific friends. Like they had to actually approve sending a message.

      Cambridge Analytica literally stole their data, against Facebook's rules.

    11. Re: Trump Hillary by satcat · · Score: 1

      Maybe "literally stole" is a bit strong, but "illegally acquired"

    12. Re: Trump Hillary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fuck Trump and fuck Clinton and Fuck you if you voted for either one of them. You are part of the problem.

  10. This will be missing piece Mueller needs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    to wrap this case up in another few years.

    1. Re:This will be missing piece Mueller needs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Whitewater started looking into a real estate deal, took four years, and finally came up with a blow job as the penumtimate crime.

    2. Re: This will be missing piece Mueller needs by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      Sexual Harassment in the workplace does not reduce to 'a blow job' you sexist pos.

    3. Re: This will be missing piece Mueller needs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      More left wing mythology. It wasn't about a blow job it was about forcing an intern to lie to a grand jury. An actual crime was committed.

    4. Re: This will be missing piece Mueller needs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And it had nothing to do with a bunch of closeted queers in the Republican party who called Hillary a dyke for not caring is some fat bitch sucked Bill's duck because they had to hide in thr mens room damnit!

      Sure sure. It was about a psycho bitch who kept her cumstained dress for years and lying about. Sure.

    5. Re: This will be missing piece Mueller needs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It ain't sexual harassment if its both consensual and approved by you mother. Miss intern skank comes from a long line of women who seek out powerful men for purposes of power and profit. It's a game that goes back to the stone age.

    6. Re: This will be missing piece Mueller needs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sexual Harassment in the workplace does not reduce to 'a blow job' you sexist pos.

      It does if done correctly.

    7. Re: This will be missing piece Mueller needs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Talk about mythology no one forced anyone to do anything in the Monica affair.

    8. Re: This will be missing piece Mueller needs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Regarding Bill Clinton's impeachment, an AC insisted:

      More left wing mythology. It wasn't about a blow job it was about forcing an intern to lie to a grand jury. An actual crime was committed.

      Ah ... no. Not at all.

      Bill Clinton did not force Monica Lewinsky to do anything. Period.

      The charges on which he was impeached (impeachment is the constitutional equivalent of being indicted by a criminal court) were (in Article I of the bill of impeachment, HR 611): lying, under oath, about the nature and details of his relationship with Lewinsky, prior false statements he had made in his deposition about his relationship with Paula Jones, false statements he deliberately allowed his lawyer to make regarding Lewinsky's affidavit, his attempts to tamper with witnesses, and attempting to obstrruct justice, and by persuading (not forcing) Lewinsky to lie to the grand jury about her knowledge of his relationship with Jones; and (in Article III) of encouraging Lewinsky to file a false affidavit and to give false testimony (if she was called to testify), concealing gifts he had given to Lewinsky (which had been subpoenaed), attempting to get Lewinsky a job (in order to put her in his debt, so as to encourage her to commit perjury on his behalf), allowing his lawyer to make false statements about Lewinsky's affidavit, attempting to tamper with his secretary, Betty Curie's prospective testimony, and making false and misleading statements to potential grand jury witnesses. (The bill of impeachment against him also included two other charges, neither of which garnered a majority vote in the House, and they were therefore not considered by the Senate, at his trial.)

      At Clinton's subsequent trial in the Senate (where 67 votes were required for conviction), he was acquitted of all charges on February 12, 1999. Article I failed by 54 not guilty votes (and one "not proved" vote from Arlen Specter) to 45. Article III likewise was defeated by a 50-50 vote (in which Specter again voted "not proven" - Chief Justice William Rhenquist, presiding over the trial, in both cases ruled his vote to be equivalent to a "not guilty" vote).

      So, you are wrong on the facts, wrong on the details, and, basically, lying ...

    9. Re: This will be missing piece Mueller needs by Shotgun · · Score: 1

      Please read a history book before publicly showing your ignorance.

      Bill Clinton was being sued by Paula Jones for sexual harassment Bill committed while Governor of Arkansas. Bill was questioned about similar behavior in other work environments. Specifically, he was asked, under oath, about having an affair with an intern in the White House while acting as President. Bill Clinton LIED about that...under oath. That is a crime that we call 'perjury', which Bill Clinton was convicted of.

      --
      Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
      Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
    10. Re: This will be missing piece Mueller needs by Shotgun · · Score: 1

      You are correct. Bill did the lying himself.

      --
      Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
      Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
  11. Re: Dick Chopp will investigate the lump on your n by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm not gay, you sucked my dick.

  12. CA Are Not The Problem. The Problem is FB by ytene · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The thing to bear in mind here is that Cambridge Analytica managed to obtain only a relatively small percentage of information about Facebook Users. The information it managed to obtain was either information voluntarily provided by users in response to a survey, or publicly-visible information carried by "friends" of the relatively small number of users who took their survey.

    Facebook have access to data on ALL their users. They have the complete history of all their users. They have a vast trove of information about what their users do when they are not on the Facebook platform, thanks to a combination of cookies delivered by their servers and the beacons they place all across the Internet, courtesy of Facebook "Like" buttons on popular web sites.

    Cambridge Analytica are only getting this level of scrutiny because Christopher Wylie basically left regulators with no choice, after publicly telling the world what CA had the ability to do. An equivalent FB insider, anyone who chose to reveal the full scope of what FB can do, would scare most people silly.

    It's amazing to think that people are getting worked up about this relatively small data set obtained by this relatively tiny company, when the data is being held by this behemoth call Facebook, run by a guy who makes no secret of his political ambitions. Talk about elephant in the room.

    1. Re:CA Are Not The Problem. The Problem is FB by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The NSA taps into Google, Facebook, Yahoo etc. were only required because the government did not have access to the same level of data that these companies do. The outrage at the Snowden leaks was not insignificant. What I find difficult to understand is why so many are more frightened by their own government (which has little incentive to harm them other than to maintain its own power and is mostly designed to facilitate services and infrastructure they need.) than they are of multi-national corporations who owe them no allegiance, want to take as much money as they can and can and will sell the data to the highest bidder regardless of whether this causes the user harm.

      Engineers engineering a distopia.

    2. Re:CA Are Not The Problem. The Problem is FB by Zaelath · · Score: 1

      The thing to bear in mind here is that Cambridge Analytica managed to obtain only a relatively small percentage of information about Facebook Users. The information it managed to obtain was either information voluntarily provided by users in response to a survey, or publicly-visible information carried by "friends" of the relatively small number of users who took their survey.

      and Friends of Friends... and? The numbers I heard were 53 people took the survey in Australia, and exposed the data of more than 300,000 individuals.

      That's some good leverage.

    3. Re:CA Are Not The Problem. The Problem is FB by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This, but because they used an academic's data for purposes that were not agreed to, it's also part of a crime, too, and therefore still worth investigating.

    4. Re:CA Are Not The Problem. The Problem is FB by mrwireless · · Score: 1

      First, thanks to machine learning you only need a sample of the population to be able to semi-accurately create psychological profiles for everyone. That's why yesterday's leak of 'only' 3 million profiles is still significant.

      Second, your argument amounts to 'whataboutism'. If Facebook is acting unscrupulously on an even larger scale, we should fight that too. You don't get away with murder by saying "but that guy killed 10 people!".

    5. Re:CA Are Not The Problem. The Problem is FB by thegarbz · · Score: 2

      The thing to bear in mind here is that Cambridge Analytica managed to obtain only a relatively small percentage of information about Facebook Users. The information it managed to obtain was either information voluntarily provided by users in response to a survey, or publicly-visible information carried by "friends" of the relatively small number of users who took their survey.

      You're underplaying the significance of what was "voluntarily provided" in a survey. The API did not allow any fine grained permissions. What was actually provided by undertaking the survey users handed over their survey answers, their complete private profile, their history, likes, affiliations, locations, as well as trusted information by friends which itself is not considered public information. Facebook already handed over far more than users had in their profiles, and certainly far more than their friends thought were being shared.

      This is precisely the outrage at this discovery. If it was just a bit of stuff that users "voluntarily" shared then it wouldn't be an issue.

      An equivalent FB insider, anyone who chose to reveal the full scope of what FB can do, would scare most people silly.

      The information a company collects on people only determines one side of the risk matrix. The other is the likelihood of abuse of information. This is why FB is also currently getting the scrutiny they are, not because of the data they collect, but because of the trust breach that occurred due to the scope of sharing. Look to your co-worker. The number of ways they could kill you should scare you silly, but it doesn't because there's a good chance that they won't. That chance needs to be combined with their capabilities in order to understand the risk. If you don't take the likelihood of a scenario occurring into account, then you're probably also afraid of your own shadow.

      FB won't be undone but what it can do, but by breaching the assumption of what it is likely to do. ... As has already been shown.

    6. Re:CA Are Not The Problem. The Problem is FB by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      CA is expendable because it's a foreign company. FB is not, because it's an American company.

      As others have commented, various TLAs have their hooks into FB too, which means it's 'too big to fail'.

    7. Re:CA Are Not The Problem. The Problem is FB by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Second, your argument amounts to 'whataboutism'. If Facebook is acting unscrupulously on an even larger scale, we should fight that too. You don't get away with murder by saying "but that guy killed 10 people!".

      You don't know how they take down mafia bosses.

    8. Re:CA Are Not The Problem. The Problem is FB by argStyopa · · Score: 1, Insightful

      "It's amazing to think that people are getting worked up about this relatively small data set obtained by this relatively tiny company"

      Not really. We've had a 2 year multimillion dollar investigation into a president based on no actual evidence, just supposition and speculation by people who ardently were opposed to him.

      Support Trump, you'll be punished beyond the full extent of the law for being on the "wrong side". It's almost like religion.

      --
      -Styopa
    9. Re:CA Are Not The Problem. The Problem is FB by Aequitarum+Custos · · Score: 1

      Facebook can't throw me in jail. Government can.

    10. Re:CA Are Not The Problem. The Problem is FB by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "What I find difficult to understand is why so many are more frightened by their own government (which has little incentive to harm them other than to maintain its own power and is mostly designed to facilitate services and infrastructure they need.) than they are of multi-national corporations who owe them no allegiance"
      Let me explain that to you. Corporations have no ability to, under the color of law, kick in my door and shoot me with relative impudence. A corporation cannot lock me up for life or in some places have me executed. A corporation cannot create an arbitrary rule and then based on that rule ruin my life.
      If you actually believe that government is innocuous or is in any way interested in providing services you are naive. Government is the process by which those who control the levers of power force other people to do what they want. In some cases it may be benign, like rules about fence heights or requirements to cut your grass, in others it is anything but, such as when it maintains lists of men who had relations with their girlfriends while teenagers in defiance of her parents and now can't get work for the rest of their life. Not to mention the agents of said government who shoot people because they had a cell phone or are the wrong color.
      A corporation can't make me buy from them, and the government whom you seemed so enamored of has process which can be used to curtail them, not that they do very often.
      Other than an armed citizenry, who can curtail the actions of government. Bureaucrats stonewall elected officials, even the good ones, and there are far too many elected officials only interested in using their control of the levers of power to make others do their bidding.

    11. Re:CA Are Not The Problem. The Problem is FB by AlwinBarni · · Score: 1

      Wasn't it, that only part of the data was obtained directly from FB, and part from a survey, which collected data for scientific purposes, and that what the users agreed to, later the researcher sold the data to Cambridge Analytica?
      Both cases entered shadowy legal area, the former was probably in violation of FB use of data the latter was clearly in violation of FB agreement with the scientist making the survey.

    12. Re:CA Are Not The Problem. The Problem is FB by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is precisely the outrage at this discovery. If it was just a bit of stuff that users "voluntarily" shared then it wouldn't be an issue.

      Except that none of this is new! Obama's campaign did literally the same thing. They had a Facebook app that supporters could use to provide their private Facebook data and the data of their friends. It was really well documented and many articles were published about how "smart" Obama was for using "big data" to mine Facebook for voters. (And articles on how Romney's campaign attempted the same thing, but were sabotaged, in case you were under the delusion that Obama was fairly elected.)

      All of the same information came out then, about how Facebook has gobs of information and is more than willing to hand it over to anyone with an API key. Yet, for some reason, there was no outrage. It was considered a "smart play."

      Yet, now that Trump is doing literally the same thing, with no change in ability - now it's a huge story, people are outraged, and the FBI is involved. Hypocrisy much?

    13. Re:CA Are Not The Problem. The Problem is FB by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Democide --Murder by government : kills far more than 'people killing people'

      https://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/MURDER.HTM

      you should learn who to fear.

    14. Re:CA Are Not The Problem. The Problem is FB by Shotgun · · Score: 1

      What about when that government that you seem so enamored with is bought and paid for by those multi-nationals that you seem to despise?

      --
      Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
      Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
    15. Re: CA Are Not The Problem. The Problem is FB by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Companies like fb have enough power to get governments to bend to their will. "That's a nice GDP you have. Be a shame if something were to happen to it."

      When companies control the government, you should care about the powers the hold through proxy.

    16. Re:CA Are Not The Problem. The Problem is FB by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Found a trump voter. It's not me! Look look there's facebook!

  13. Re:So will they...... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh is that right? Since you know so much then tell me, exactly how many "The View Fact Checkers" would that be?

    You can't tell me because you just blew that out your ass!

  14. This Is Getting Ridiculous by NicknameUnavailable · · Score: 0, Troll

    When is Trump going to shut them down for wasting tax dollars over this idiotic investigation against him? Fuck, they wiretapped him under Obama and still didn't find any dirt.

    1. Re:This Is Getting Ridiculous by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you don't care if he's a potential traitor? So long as he's *your* traitor (lol) I guess.

      Because wasting FAR MORE money and time investigating the Clinton's was worth it, and had far more serious consequences for national security... :P

    2. Re:This Is Getting Ridiculous by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > they wiretapped him under Obama and still didn't find any dirt.

      I don't know that we know what they learned from that.

      > When is Trump going to shut them down for wasting tax dollars over this idiotic investigation against him?

      You're saying that it is ok if Cambridge Analytica committed financial crimes?

      How about we just let investigators do the investigating and see what turns up. If they find nothing then you can argue that it was a waste of tax payer dollars. Until then, just let them do the job that they get paid to do. Remember that we don't know what they know.

    3. Re:This Is Getting Ridiculous by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When is Trump going to shut them down for wasting tax dollars over this idiotic investigation against him? Fuck, they wiretapped him under Obama and still didn't find any dirt.

      Five who have pleaded guilty so far, 13 others indicted and one in house arrest who denies all charges.
      That is a little more than just "not finding any dirt".

    4. Re:This Is Getting Ridiculous by Straif · · Score: 1

      And almost all of those pleas and indictments are for process crimes (perjury) or events that happened years ago and had nothing to do with the Presidential election. The biggest plea so far, Flynn, is already in legal trouble as released FBI documents show that none of the investigators believe he perjured himself during their meeting and the charges were only later created out of thin air to apply pressure. It was only after they threatened to go after his son for similar trumped up charges and almost bankrupted him that he pled out.

      As for Manafort, he's the scum of the earth and probably deserves to rot in prison but even some of the charges brought against him are facing some legal issues.

      For those indictments that were added to pad the numbers (Russian companies and persons) Mueller knew that he had no legal ground to even pursue the charges so was completely taken by surprise when one of the companies actually sent a lawyer to represent them. It was so bad that Mueller's team had to ask for a continuance because they were completely unprepared. Hell, one of the companies that he indicted didn't even exist at the time of the crime they were indicted for; as the defense lawyer stated, they were the proverbial ham sandwich in front of the grand jury.

      --
      Of course that's just my opinion...... you could be wrong!
    5. Re:This Is Getting Ridiculous by NicknameUnavailable · · Score: 1

      You mean because they covered up all the dirt they found? Including Wiener's laptop with blackmail on the entire DNC that two detectives were killed over?

    6. Re:This Is Getting Ridiculous by NicknameUnavailable · · Score: 1

      Facebook and Cambridge Analytica are different issues.

  15. The deep state doesn't exist by poity · · Score: 0, Troll

    But unelected people will chase any wild goose to try to get Trump on a technicality. The collusion investigation that was supposed to find communication between Trump and Putin now has, as it's MOST damning evidence, a guy who left the election campaign early on and whose indicted crime was having dodged taxes years before the campaign even began. Now a violation of privacy by a British firm is being argued as the next piece of evidence for the supposed Trump-Putin collusion. That is pure non sequitur if ever there was any. Not to mention that if Trump were indeed colluding with Putin, it would have been easier to have gotten the FSB to hack Facebook and give Trump's campaign access to all the data.

    --
    your thin skin doesn't make me a troll
    1. Re:The deep state doesn't exist by fafalone · · Score: 5, Insightful

      While I too doubt there was personal contact between Trump and Putin (but never heard anything to suggest that's what Mueller was specifically looking for, but rather operatives of his campaign working with operatives representing Russia, of which he might have approved or had knowledge of), the fact is we have no idea what evidence the investigation has/will turn up. All you Trumpsters have this preordained conclusion where despite all the smoke, you insist since we can't see the fire, the absolutely is none and the investigation into the matter should just be shut down before it looks. Further, there's other components of the investigation, like obstruction. The underlying crime doesn't even need to have occurred, and busting people for that alone is routine criminal procedure, not some loophole they just made up specifically to nail Trump.
      And yet another angle is that Trump and his sons have explicitly stated they've borrowed large amounts from Russian banks, which could potentially give them significant leverage over our President on one end, and probably involves laundering on the other. These are critical to investigate.

      Not that any of this will matter to you, no matter what is presented when Mueller actually reveals his findings, you'll still think he's innocent, it's a witch hunt, Trump Did No Wrong, it's all a partisan hit job, and on and on to protect your boy.

    2. Re:The deep state doesn't exist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yep, sounds just like the Democrats in the late 90s protecting Clinton. And he was hit with obstruction as well. Why do people feel the need to go the distance for scumbag politicians like Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Trump?

      The baby boomer presidents have fucked this country up. Their generation will be gone soon at least.

    3. Re:The deep state doesn't exist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Except the investigation against Clinton WAS a witch hunt - it strayed from the initial goal (whitewater) into UNRELATED matters (Lewinski). But that's what the Republicans ARE - hypocrites.

      Until anyone can prove that Mueller is deviating from the subject of his initial investigation for partisan reasons, there is NO EQUIVALENCE.

    4. Re:The deep state doesn't exist by gtall · · Score: 1

      Ya, my guess is that you'd have no problems with Trump dating your daughter or loaning him money.

    5. Re:The deep state doesn't exist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Stormy Daniels.

    6. Re:The deep state doesn't exist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the fact is we have no idea what evidence the investigation has/will turn up

      That's because the fuckers are operating wholly "open ended", like Richelieu.

    7. Re:The deep state doesn't exist by hey! · · Score: 1

      It's their job to enforce technicalities.

      As for the collusion investigation, we don't know what' they've got yet, because unlike the White House the Mueller team doesn't leak very much. But it's not surprising to see peripheral pressure being put on the President's associates; that's the way prosecutors work. The way you take down a mob boss isn't that you go straight for him; you put pressure on his associates using whatever you can find.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    8. Re:The deep state doesn't exist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fucking nutter.

    9. Re:The deep state doesn't exist by sjames · · Score: 2

      So to keep things equal, we should impeach trump over Stormy Daniels.

    10. Re:The deep state doesn't exist by ganjadude · · Score: 1

      the only people he has taken down so far, are people with issues unrelated to any collution

      what is this until anyone can nonsense, thats ALL it has been so far!

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    11. Re:The deep state doesn't exist by Solandri · · Score: 1
      While I'm with you on the obstruction charge, it is the job of the accuser to prove guilt, not the job of the accused to prove innocence. It's impossible to prove a negative, so it's often difficult or impossible to prove one's innocence, since that would require you to prove you didn't do anything wrong. The only way one can prove innocence is to account for one's actions at every moment of every day. Since that's practically impossible, the burden of proof must be on the accuser, not the accused. And people presumed innocent until proven guilty.

      Trying to generate negative publicity by blowing lots of smoke is what accusers tend to do when they can't find any evidence of a fire.

      And yet another angle is that Trump and his sons have explicitly stated they've borrowed large amounts from Russian banks, which could potentially give them significant leverage over our President on one end

      How would that give the banks leverage? The borrower has leverage over the lender, not the other way around - the borrower has the lender's stuff. If you get a mortgage from the bank, the bank has to hope you pay them back, and won't skip town. The only leverage the bank has is their power provided by the country's law to repossess your home. No such power exists in an international loan - the bank is relying on the borrower's creditworthiness and desire to freely travel to the bank's country again in the future. When I was in grad school, I met several international students who'd racked up significant amounts of credit card debt, who weren't planning to repay but were simply going to leave the country forever after they graduated. The borrower holds all the cards in international loans.

    12. Re:The deep state doesn't exist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Can't hit a moving target. GPs point was there has been a deviation just like with Clinton.

    13. Re:The deep state doesn't exist by sjames · · Score: 1

      One important difference, In Clinton's case the investigation shifted FAR from criminal matters. The whole Daniels investigation surrounds potential violations of campaign finance law. That is, the payoff on the downlow, not the alleged affair and not lying or not about the affair.

    14. Re:The deep state doesn't exist by Straif · · Score: 1

      Campaign finance laws aren't really criminal matters either. At worst this is a violation to the tune of $130,000. Obama's campaign was found guilty of violations in the millions and, as is pretty par for the course, paid a small fine and life continued.

      Trumps image was hardly squeaky clean to begin with so the revelations that he had an affair with a porn star would have hardly rocked the boat. John Edwards had a similar case during his presidential run and was easily able to claim it was a payoff for personal reasons and it is guaranteed that the news of him having a love child while his wife was dying of cancer would have had a much greater political impact on his presidential chances than the news that a thrice married reality TV star who cheated on each wife with the next one had had a one night stand with a stripper.

      --
      Of course that's just my opinion...... you could be wrong!
    15. Re:The deep state doesn't exist by Shotgun · · Score: 1

      Yet, it seems that a judge isn't to happy with this particular technique.

      --
      Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
      Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
    16. Re:The deep state doesn't exist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      that's what your mum said...

    17. Re:The deep state doesn't exist by sjames · · Score: 1

      There were significant issues with timely donation disclosures and refunds of excess donations, but Trump is in it for PERSONAL comingling of funds and mis-use of campaign funds.

    18. Re:The deep state doesn't exist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      By all means. Trump will get the same "Oh my god no one cares who the president banged" 20% poll bump that Clinton got in 1998, the democrats will take the same "Jesus Christ we're sick of listening to you" 20% poll hit that the GOP got, and Trump will win re-election in a Reagan v. Mondale-tier landslide. In fact, if President Maxine could somehow get that impeachment thing going in summer 2020, that would be ideal.

      Fun fact: Clinton recorded his highest-ever approval rating of 73% the very day he was impeached.

  16. Smokescreen by Laxator2 · · Score: 1

    The company has morhped already:

    https://www.metro.us/news/the-...

    They are really catching the discarded skin of the snake.

  17. Probably will result in BS technicality charges by swb · · Score: 2, Interesting

    These never seem to go anywhere. There's never enough evidence to convict any significant decision maker of a crime, especially when they have enough resources for counsel that is able to obfuscate sufficiently.

    At best you see some kind of vague conspiracy charge -- which really, anyone could be charged with -- or real bullshit stuff, like mid-level flunkies who get convicted of something like "lying to the FBI", which seems to make a serious felony out of either honest people's inadvertent "lies by omission" or the natural reaction people have to the intimidation of being questioned by a serious law enforcement organization.

    So a handful of people might wind up scapegoats on technicality charges since prosecutors don't like failure publicity. No film at 11, you can find this story buried on the back of the sports section.

    1. Re:Probably will result in BS technicality charges by gtall · · Score: 1

      Why don't you wait until the investigation is completed before making silly pronouncements on its outcome.

    2. Re:Probably will result in BS technicality charges by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because the "investigation" is designed to never complete?

    3. Re:Probably will result in BS technicality charges by swb · · Score: 1

      Because I'm fifty-fucking-one years old and I've seen this dumb movie remade 100 times. The ending never changes just because the cast does.

  18. The Bigger Problem With This by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...is that the Campaign didn't use their data. They used RNC data because it was more accurate.

    That CBS is reporting they did use it IS Fake news, otherwise known as a fucking lie.

  19. So what? by DaMattster · · Score: 1

    They're a foreign firm. Who cares? The damage is done. There are people out there with fucking chainsaws and the Justice Department is going after Cambridge Analytica. Is anyone else sick of this? Yes, Cambridge Analytica fucked up. Ban them from doing business with American firms and slap a huge fine on them.

    1. Re:So what? by Freischutz · · Score: 1

      They're a foreign firm. Who cares?

      Those of us who don't want them do it again.

    2. Re:So what? by DaMattster · · Score: 1

      They're a foreign firm. Who cares?

      Those of us who don't want them do it again.

      Give them a billion dollar punitive fine and it won't happen again.

  20. Re: As opposed to you assload of bull.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...shit.

  21. Sigh. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They need to be laying the smack down on Facebook, who harvested the data in the first place. They will never be regulated, will they? I knew the hearing was just for show, and I think Fuckerberg did, too. Absolutely nothing will change unless people stop using these services, and I'm not holding my breath on that one.

  22. Re:So will they...... by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 1

    I still don't understand how what Cambridge Analytica was doing is any different than any other modern marketing campaign.

    --
    SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
  23. Re: No one thinks youre funny. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They call you an asshole behind your back. BIGLY.

  24. Re:So will they...... by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 1

    Yes, but only biased genocidal maniac feminist fact checkers.

    --
    SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
  25. Re: Enjoy the fascist assraep by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Youre children thank you for your brave Whataboutism. Its very American. Bigly strong & free.

  26. Re:So will they...... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I still don't understand how what Cambridge Analytica was doing is any different than any other modern marketing campaign.

    Isn't it obvious? When a Democrat does it it's good but when a Republican does it it's evil!

  27. Evidence to the contrary by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Not that any of this will matter to you, no matter what is presented when Mueller actually reveals his findings, you'll still think he's innocent, it's a witch hunt, Trump Did No Wrong, it's all a partisan hit job, and on and on to protect your boy.

    I'm actually good with believing he's innocent, until there's evidence.

    I absolutely *hate* it when some police force make a flashy claim about someone - all the guns confiscated during the search, all the electronic devices taken from the home, nebulous "tip from an informant" - everything is being tried in the court of public opinion nowadays. None of that is evidence of a crime.

    Let's not forget that after 9/11 someone was sending anthrax letters to people (remember those?) and Mueller - the lead investigator - ignored a tip about Bruce Edwards Ivins (the perpetrator, from one of Ivins' colleagues) and focused on Steven Hatfill. Mueller went before congress and swore under oath that Steven Hatfill was the person responsible, when in fact there was no evidence implicating Steven Hatfill whatsoever. Among other items, Steven Hatfill had no access to anthrax. The FBI didn't bother to explain this fact, and didn't seem to care.

    Steven Hatfill went through several years of hell, having his life turned upside down, condemned in the media, death threats... and was eventually exonerated and sued the government for (IIRC) 5 million dollars.

    That's the history of your "unimpeachable, honorable" Mueller.

    Remember the indictments of 13 Russian nationals and 3 corporations recently released? It turns out one of the corporations didn't exist at the time of the purported crimes. Mueller indicted the proverbial "ham sandwich".

    I like to think everyone is innocent, until proven guilty. and this thing about the court of public opinion is bollocks. Show us the evidence.

    I sometimes ask a *question* about how someone appears to have broken the law. For example, Trump is widely believed to be obstructing justice for firing Comey, despite having a memo in-hand recommending it, but the Oakland mayor can warn illegal immigrants of an upcoming ICE raid... and that's not?

    Or how Michael Flynn can be charged under the Hatch act for meeting with a Russian diplomat (as a member of the incoming administration, opening dialog and not specifically making claims or policy) while Kerry can negotiate with Iran and European countries to save the Iran agreement... and that's not?

    I like to think everyone is innocent, until proven guilty.

    Show me the evidence. What you have so far is nothing.

    1. Re:Evidence to the contrary by fafalone · · Score: 1

      I don't know if he's innocent in or not, the point was that there's ample grounds for the investigation to take place.
      Looking into the wrong person in one high profile case with intense pressure to find someone is hardly grounds to suggest he's any less competent than any other prosecutor. Don't put words in my mouth either please, I have never expressed any sentiment that would indicate I think Mueller is 'unimpeachable, honorable'; I would never describe any prosecutor in that manner. On those measures he's done nothing either way to stand out from any other person they may have assigned to this.
      The problem with the memo you're talking about is that Trump specifically implied it was for other reasons, and whether the creation of the memo was directed is an open question. You once again then put words in my mouth presuming I'm some ideologically inconsistent SJW-- as a matter of fact, I *do* think a mayor warning immigrants of an ICE raid is obstruction of justice.
      Kerry negotiating to save the Iran deal on the other hand has exactly what connection to impeding a law enforcement investigation into a breach of US criminal law? That makes no sense.

      Again he's absolutely innocent until proven guilty as a matter of law, and I haven't even expressed a personal opinion on the question of whether Trump knew and approved. But we're talking about whether there's enough evidence to conduct an investigation, and there absolutely is. Whether that will turn up enough to convict is an open question, but if you look at all the events that sparked the investigation and can conclude it's not enough to even investigate? That's nothing but desiring to protect a politician you love.

  28. Re:So will they...... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They were rooting for the wrong team. I don't see the issue either so that's all I can come up with.

  29. Re:INVESTIGATE HILLARY by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Found the dumb ass Russian

  30. Re:So will they...... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes, comrade, pass the vodka

  31. Re:Dick Chopp will investigate the lump on your na by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This Russian has gone to school and can spell three letter word.

  32. Re:So will they...... by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 1

    What about when WalMart does it? Or Starbucks? Or your college alumni association? Face it, privacy has been gone for more than 20 years now. The only difference is that facebook is a one-stop-shopping-center for gross analytical data and specific targeted marketing.

    --
    SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
  33. Genius for Obama, scandal for Trump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What’s genius for Obama is scandal when it comes to Trump: http://thehill.com/opinion/technology/379245-whats-genius-for-obama-is-scandal-when-it-comes-to-trump (Ben Shapiro, March 20 2018)

  34. Whoa !! This could distract them ! by micahraleigh · · Score: 1

    Let's get back to overthrowing the guy the electorate picked and democracy !!

  35. Full story here... by dbreeze · · Score: 1

    qanonposts.com

    --
    When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law he tore his robes.2Kings22:11
  36. New name confirmed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "came bridge anal licking cunts"

  37. Double standard by ASCIIxTended · · Score: 1

    So why wasn't Obama investigated by them in 2012?.

    The Obama’s reelection team was “building a vast digital data operation that for the first time combines a unified database on millions of Americans with the power of Facebook to target individual voters to a degree never achieved before.” Obama’s new database would be gathered by asking individual volunteers to log into Obama’s reelection site using their Facebook credentials. “Consciously or otherwise,” “the individual volunteer will be injecting all the information they store publicly on their Facebook page — home location, date of birth, interests and, crucially, network of friends — directly into the central Obama database.”

    Facebook had no problem with such activity then. They do now, but only because it's Trump.

    The former Obama director of integration and media analytics stated that, during the 2012 campaign, Facebook allowed the Obama team to “suck out the whole social graph”; Facebook “was surprised we were able to suck out the whole social graph, but they didn’t stop us once they realized that was what we were doing. They came to [the] office in the days following election recruiting & were very candid that they allowed us to do things they wouldn’t have allowed someone else to do because they were on our side.”

    As soon as Facebook realized that Cambridge Analytica had pursued a similar strategy, they suspended them.

    --
    I do not belong to the church of the lowercase 'i'
  38. NY Times is saying otherwise by walterbyrd · · Score: 1

    May 16, 2018
    Code Name Crossfire Hurricane: The Secret Origins of the Trump Investigation

    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/16/us/politics/crossfire-hurricane-trump-russia-fbi-mueller-investigation.html