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Facebook opened its doors to third-party apps. The apps could demand for a substantial amount of data, including the info of users and their friends, without stating a reason for wanting the data. In addition, the apps could retrieve the data from a user’s public profile (including their name, location, gender), as well as their friends’ names, political views, religion, education, and more. If the developers extended their permission, they could even gain access to a user’s private messages.
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In the beginning, when playing games on Facebook, you were offered you two options: to “Allow” or “Don’t Allow” your personal data to be accessed, and posted on your behalf. As time passed, the design was changed for there to only be one button which showed the option to “Play Game” in big letters. In small letters, the fact that the app would access your basic info, email address, birthday, location, was shown. There was no option to not allow this, the only option was to play the game.
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Kogan created a quiz app called “Thisisyourdigitallife”, using Graph API, under a company called “Global Science Research”. He paid people $1-$2 to complete the personality survey using their Facebook accounts. In the end, around 270 000 participants completed the survey. However, due to the setup of Facebook at the time, Kogan managed to exploit Graph API, and gain access to the data the friends of the participants as well, which was tens of million users.
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Facebook shut down access to Graph API 1.0. and updated the platform to enable fewer data to be given away, specifically about users’ friends. Facebook also allowed control over what information is shared with developers, and added a link to “Edit the info you provide”.
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Facebook discovered that Kogan sold the data he acquired from his quiz app to Cambridge Analytica. The firm worked with Ted Cruz's campaign. Facebook confirmed that the firm had obtained the data, but did not acknowledge it publicly. They pressured the firm to delete the data. Facebook executive Andrew Bosworth stated that the firm claimed they had deleted the data, which was certified in a legal document. It was thought that all data had been deleted, so Cambridge Analytica was not suspended.
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During the Trump’s presidential bid, Steve Bannon, the Vice President of Cambridge Analytica at the time, reached out to the Trump Campaign. He then became the Chief Executive officer of Trump’s 2016 campaign. Soon after, a great deal of money started being invested into Facebook ads. Mark Turnbull, the company's managing director, claimed that the firm was responsible for the video campaign “Defeat Crooked Hillary” on Facebook. The campaign used Kogan's data to build a marketing strategy.
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Steve Bannon was fired from his position. He was given the option to resign, but in the end was forced to leave, however it is said it was a mutual decision. Bannon was fired due to clashes with other government officials, as well as his interview where he contradicted Trump’s North Korea policy. It is believed that there were tensions between him and Trump, long before he was fired.
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In the articles, it was thought that the information of up to 50 million Facebook users was compromised. The newspapers received the knowledge from Christopher Wylie, who helped set up the firm, and worked with Aleksandr Kogan at Cambridge University. The reports recount how Cambridge Analytica bought the data collected from Global Science Research, that was owned by Aleksandr Kogan, a Russian American professor at the University of Cambridge.
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To see if a settlement that Facebook reached with the government in 2011 was violated, the FTC began an inquiry. Mark Zuckerberg the CEO of Facebook was urged to testify before Congress.
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In a Facebook post, Mark Zuckerberg said “We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can't then we don't deserve to serve you. I've been working to understand exactly what happened and how to make sure this doesn't happen again,”. He announced that there would no longer be an app which allowed developers to users’ data. Zuckerberg also stated that they would audit all apps that had access to considerable amounts of data before the 2014 changes.
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Alerts were posted at the top of the users who had their data accessed News Feeds, as well as a link which displays the apps that are currently accessing your data. Users were able to end this, by using a bulk-delete feature Facebook recently added.
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They wrote that bankruptcy proceedings would start soon, and the company would be “immediately ceasing operations”. The company claimed that they had “unwavering confidence that its employees have acted ethically and lawfully”, but it was determined that “it is no longer viable to continue operating the business”. However, there is suspicion how their decision to close was not only due to financial reasons, but a way to avoid investigation as well.
