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Federal Facebook Probe Now Includes FBI, SEC: Report (apnews.com)

Posted by msmash on from the tussle-continues dept.

A federal probe into Facebook's sharing of user data with Cambridge Analytica now involves the FBI, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department, a report said. AP: Representatives from these agencies have joined the Federal Trade Commission in the inquiry, The Washington Post reported, citing five unnamed people familiar with the matter. The probe reportedly centers on what Facebook knew in 2015, when it learned that the political data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica had improperly accessed the personal data of tens of millions of Facebook users. Facebook didn't disclose the incident with the political firm, which later worked for the Trump campaign and other Republican candidates, until this March.

5 of 77 comments (clear)

  1. Going to include the Obama campaign? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Keep in mind that Cambridge Analytica only "improperly accessed" the data based on Facebook's new rules, the old rules and Facebook's own API allowed them access to the data they acquired. There was no "illegal access" - this was data that Facebook happily gave the Obama campaign as well as just about any company that asked.

    There's no clear reason for the FBI to be involved other than continued butt-hurt over the "wrong" candidate winning the election. No one cared when Obama used the same trick to steal the election from Romney.

    1. Re:Going to include the Obama campaign? by will_die · · Score: 4, Informative

      See the link below for the issues.
      Part of the legal issues is that agreement, the link below, requiring that facebook perform actions which is being investigated to see if they broke.
      the issue with Cambridge Analytica is that they had access to people who had not given consent, so breaking the FTC agreement.
      What Obama's 2012 team was allowed to do by facebook was take data only from people who had consented (you logged into obama's website using your facebook account). However they were given access to data that facebook never gives to anyone else and is listed as user data that will not be distributed and was not the list of information that would be shared, so consent for some data not given. In addtion obama's team was allowed to suck that data directly from the facebook databases and then keep the data indefinitely. All of that is in violation of the FTC agreement.

      https://www.ftc.gov/news-event...

    2. Re:Going to include the Obama campaign? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

      Clinton
      - Took $145 million in bribes to approve Uranium One sale to Russia
      - Deleted 30,000 emails AFTER they were subpoenaed
      - Lied under oath 7 times, proven so far
      - Mishandled classified information over 110 times
      - Consequences... NOTHING

      Trump
      - Won an election Clinton should have
      - FBI sent at least 4 spies into his campaign
      - FBI illegally wiretapped Trump tower
      - FBI fraudently started investigation with no evidence
      - FBI mishandled entire Trump investigation to date, according to their IG
      - Consequences... Anyone who helps Trump is in legal trouble or in jail for nothing to do with Trump campaign because they DARED to help him win.

      Yep, that's pretty much how it works. You are a D, you can take bribes, obstruct justice, and lie under oath without consequences. You are an R and you and everyone you ever talked to will be investigated and charged with tax crimes from 15 years ago (I thought it was a 7 year limit, but not if you are an R I guess).

  2. Bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    ... this was data that Facebook happily gave the Obama campaign as well as just about any company that asked.

    No they didn't. That is a lie started by Conservative Troll media (Fox News, Hannity, Rush, and all the idiots on political talk radio - and that makes you a rube.) I didn't start seeing ANYTHING from the Obama campaign until I signed up.

    Now, what CA did was target people unsolicited with BS ads about immigrants , "America is for Americans only", stuff about infrastructure, and other issues that their data suggested - and targeted ads accordingly.

    Trump then used that data to customize his speeches in those areas based upon data.

    For example, they found that people were concerned about infrastructure and that is when Trump said that he was going to spend a Trillion dollars on roads, bridges and highways.

    And why when he was in Potatohoe he railed about keeping them illegal immigrants out - even those people have no illegal immigrant problem.

    And everyone seems to think facebook and CA are the problem when it's really our stupid electorate (mostly the conservatives) who lack critical thinking skills and are too lazy to really learn about the issues.

    Because let's face it, Trump won on complete horseshit.

    1. Re:Bullshit by Train0987 · · Score: 2, Informative

      That is nonsense. 63 million people weren't persuaded to vote against Clinton by Facebook ads. That is, at best, wishful thinking. At worst it's willful self-delusion and cognitive dissonance.