Any one who relies on Facebook for their news is, well, stupid. This story will go down the rabbit hole as soon as the kids begin marching this weekend.
18
While I had heard about Cambridge Analytica and its meddling in the election, never did I imagine that it would involve illegal use of data, from FB, or anywhere else. I do not know if my FB account was among those that were profiled; I never consented to any use of my data and I never took a questionnaire or survey. Nevertheless, this incident has convinced me to go ahead and delete my FB profile. I have not used it much lately anyway. Perhaps others will do the same.
31
I'm shocked, shocked that a political party would use public data to target their marketing. shocked.
8
GHOSTERY APP will let you know who is tracking you, usually about 10 trackers per internet click. Chose their private setting and not the anonymous aggregate setting. Turn off each tracker that pops up until all are "gone".
15
Facebook is profitable only because it uses automatic computer algorithms to run every aspect of its operation. Aside from its dubious profit motive, Facebook cannot afford to use humans to make human judgments. And algorithms just aren’t clever enough.
Accordingly, Facebook’s activitues should be restricted by law to those areas where its manipulation by robots and crafty algorithm exploiters cannot do much damage. For instance, Facebook should be legally restrained from providing “news” that it cannot vet and advertising with political or rabble-rousing intent. It should be forced to limit the spread of “likes” and to insist upon believable user identification to eliminate fake persona.
Government regulation applies to all sorts of media, and Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc should not be exceptions. At the moment they are the equivalent of industrial polluters (only mostly of the past) that exploited the lack of regulation to create huge hazardous superfund dumps to improve their profits.
It’s time for the supine GOP Congress to do its job.
19
What's disconcerting to me is how ubiquitous Facebook has become. It's everywhere. It's become a utility like electricity or water. You'll even find it at the top of the pages of the NYT. We are implored endlessly to "Follow us on Facebook". I guess the creators of this company must be seen as geniuses to have convinced most of the world to sign up as promoters of this private company.
But count me out!
29
This article was about how the information on different demographics have been illegally obtained. I would like to see an in-depth expose on how this data, and other data is being used as propaganda. We know that propaganda works. I would like to see at least one journalistic effort at labeling why psychographic data is useful for formulating propaganda. And linking this to why we have a minority of people governing the majority in this county. (United States)
11
In the documentary, Terms and Conditions May Apply, they tell the story of an Irish man who sued Face Book under EU privacy laws and got his files from them. He won and got 9,000 searchable pages with all of his personal data, web searches, friends, likes, etc. 9,000 pages on one user.
In the same film they try to interview Mark Zuckerberg on the public street in front of his house, but he refused, saying it was an invasion of his privacy. Zuckerberg thinks he has privacy, but you don't.
All of you that go around saying privacy is old fashioned and unnecessary and impossible in the modern world are willingly giving up one of the most important aspects of human independence and sanity. We all need privacy.
The announcement that you don't think privacy exists, gives legal permission to third parties and government to violate your rights. Stop giving away your rights for free accounts. It's not with it.
For the record: I have a right to privacy, and I demand that my private information not be sold and not be shared, and not be used to manipulate my buying habits or political views. If you have my private information I demand that you delete it now.
20
Since Cambridge Analytica had such an easy time purchasing the Facebook profiles it wanted, one wonders who else already has, who still may and for what purpose. The 5th Estate is now also embraced by supressive rulers.
6
The weaponization of social media by Cambridge Analytica is truly troubling and the perpetrators and reckless enablers should be ostracized and punished harshly because they undermine western democracy.
Facebook's attempts to protect the privacy of its customers is clearly inadequate and it is not clear whether the damage can be undone. Similarly, there are structural problems with Twitter that provides an efficient conduit for conspiracy theories, including Trump's continuous stream of lies, without providing a similarly efficient conduit for fact-checked rebuttals. Of course these companies all make handsome money, but they are also guilty of enabling the race to the gutter that we are seeing in Trump-era politics. Western democracies are threatened as never before.
Instead of protecting Trump's depravities, lawmakers should look at some root causes and enact laws and measures that protect us against this kind of cyber warfare that erodes informed and polite public discourse.
5
I just logged in using facebook! How ironic, but the NYT needs ad revenue too. I think we are giving too much credit to CA. It may have swung some voters, but HC lost the election because of lower class americans fed up with the establishment. They did not care about the trans agenda, they dont want to talk about chia seeds and goji berries. They want jobs. They felt economically and socially left out and voted because of this reason. I think the UK and US is trying to bring down the advertising supported flow of information as it has made their own business model (the main stream fake news - remember WMD's in Iraq?). This is the reason the Guardian has gone after this.
1
The Republicans outsmarted the democrats and beat them at their own social media game. Now the democrats are whining. Hey democrats. The people spoke on Nov 8. Remember? Trump won. Get over it.
4
For those who suggest deleting your FB account as a solution see K.Henderson’s comment here. As long as we use the internet he trackers are working.
1
I don't use Facebook and early on I saw it as Fakebook and I think the news today will probably not have people abandon it. It obviously manipulates your brain and I have warned many people it is a giant waste of time. Any questions?
5
The original story is worth reading for comparison. Considerable difference regarding Wylie's role: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/data-war-whistleblower-chri...
4
Where does Mercer's $7 BILLION tax problem intersect with Cambridge's effort to help Trump?
10
The firm had secured a $15 million investment from Robert Mercer, the wealthy Republican donor, and wooed his political adviser, Stephen K. Bannon, with the promise of tools that could identify the personalities of American voters and influence their behavior. But it did not have the data to make its new products work....SO who ho said you couldn't buy and election???
3
America has huge numbers of people that believe that Hillary Clinton is a pedophile, that Obama was born in Kenya, and that every Muslim person carries within them the seeds of terrorism. For Facebook to stand up to such ignorance, it must determine NOT to to run ads or allow posts of notions that are patently untrue. I'm cool with that. I think Facebook should ban posts that claim that Hitler wasn't all that bad, that the Sandy Hook Massacre was a hoax, and that Hillary Clinton runs a Little Shop Of Horrors beneath a pizza parlor in Washington D.C. Facebook is a privately owned company. They have the right to ban idiotic ideas from their pages.
7
Simple solution. If you have a Facebook account you may not vote. By being on Facebook you’ve shown a stupidity so complete you have no right to vote. Sorry
9
I love facebook. I think that to attack facebook now, when it was obviously the victim of schemers as though they were complicit, is somewhat unfair. facebook has accomplished a lot of personal and social good. It has helped people get back in touch with long lost friends and lovers; it has inspired noble social movements; it has spread positive and progressive memes; it has fueled political participation in our democracy. all of these are good things! There is a dark side, of course, to all of the data that can be gathered and parsed, but I believe the solution is not to beat up facebook; the solution is informed risk and disclosure. We the people should be aware that what we post can be accessed by people who have a different agenda than what we share. Once we are made aware of this fact and are conscious of it, the chances of our being victims of unwitting exploitation are minimized. But let's not hang the messenger.
3
We've largely become desensitized to data breaches as a society. With financial data, we believe there are protections. With personal data, we don't believe we are that vulnerable. What's hard for people to understand is that the personal (Facebook) data itself is not what makes them vulnerable. It is that data in the hands of some truly bad people who can use it against us to influence our opinions, beliefs and ultimately, our behaviors over time. It's psychological information warfare.
8
The country’s willingness to let social media become a colossal business that dominates news and advertising while being largely exempt from all laws that apply to every other medium, most especially but not only libel laws, has been a disastrous decision.
As far as Cambridge Analytics activities, their only transgression appears to me to be associated with British citizens working on the election. The whole social media business model is to allow customers to mine data about subscribers and allow precise targeting of a message to individual readers. It does not seem to bother us when Macy’s (or the NYT) does it, but we are are furious when a political campaign does it.
It seems to me that until we confront the problem of giant Internet businesses like Facebook, Amazon, Google etc. maintaining large data bases of private information about us that we ourselves have provided to them, we cannot expect politicians and everybody else who seeks to influence our behavior to not to seek to exploit that data as fully as possible.
7
I read thru many of the comments and the majority of them say some variant of "delete your Facebook account."
While that is certainly a good idea I dont think many realize that Facebook (and google too) run trackers on virtually any major web page, whether you have a facebook or google account or not. If you work in IT you know about trackers -- it is not a secret. But at the same time, most have no idea that Facebook is collecting lots of info over time about you -- even if it is anonymous data (which it isn't really). There are various softwares that can suppress some of this tracking but it is far from perfect. Just FYI. Deleting your Facebook account does not rid you of Facebook.
6
You are correct K Henderson. Not sure if there is an actual way to delete a FB account. The most I was able to do with mine was to shut it down years ago (I joined early on back in 2006). But the account is still there and ready to restart as soon as I log in again.
1
True, but it’s a good start....Time for Facebook to go away....
4
The biggest surprise is that Facebook Corporation would simply hand that GIANT amount of data for FREE to a researcher -- and with Facebook doing apparently no vetting of that researcher.
That data is so valuable to Facebook (because it sells it endlessly) that to give it away for free in that huge quantity is odd. Facebook will need to explain this. It stands out as odd.
13
Facebook did not give it away for free just like they don't give you a free account. Facebook exploited the research for their own use just like they exploit your account for their own use.
Try not to be so naive.
1
"How was a political data firm with links to Trump’s 2016 campaign harvest private information from more than 50 million Facebook profiles without the social network’s alerting users?" Facebook's answer deny deny deny, threaten the London paper if they published the truth, and suspend accounts of Cambridge Analytica, Mr. Kogan, and Mr. Wylie who "fessed up". How can FB claim to protect the privacy of users when the reality is they sell users' data?
8
Being very old has always convinced me that my generations have always been the most sensible.....I simply cannot understand why so many people are wiling to share so many personal and intimate secrets with the rest of the world. And then they complain when that data is used against them or, at the very least, when the data is used for nefarious purposes. Every electronic device I have ever seen has an "OFF" switch, although such a switch should appear on the human body also.........
14
Class action suit.
50,000,000 people x $20,000 each = $1 trillion.
Zuckerberg is going to have to sell his Hawaiian Island to pay for this.
19
The dawn of Psychohistory.
4
I’m interested in knowing who or what source broke this story?
1
I knew this was brewing a year ago after I read this great article
THE BLOW-IT-ALL-UP BILLIONAIRES by Vicky Ward
http://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/mercers/
2
The Guardian and The Observer. These articles give more detail including in-depth interviews with a whistleblower. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/cambridge-analytica-faceboo...
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/data-war-whistleblower-chri...
2
Here we have collusion between criminals who are guilty of the theft of personal information and the Trump campaign. Note the common denominator: Steve Bannon, backed by the dark money of the Mercers. This subversion of democracy will only get worse unless Congress works to protect the electoral process.
34
I think if you look at Pat Buchanan's 1992 speech at the Republican Convention, where he used the terms, "God's country" and "culture wars," it is terrifying how prophetic he was.
9
That’s when I went to the court house with my new born and changed my political affiliation to independent. Never voted republican since then.
22
Sell yourself your FB stock. Hurt Zuckerberg with the only thing that matters to him, money.
14
No, just have them declared a PAC and and take away their profits.
5
I'll hardly be the only one to make this connection, but the similarities between the Trump campaign's social media firm's methods and those of the hundreds of Russians who tried to help elect him are both unmistakeable and undeniable.
29
That connection has already been established. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/17/us/politics/cambridge-analytica-russi...®ion=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Politics&pgtype=article
1
Can't fault President Trump for using available resources to achieve victory. I believe Obama did the same thing.
As for Facebook? I hate it. I don't use it. I live well without it.
3
That's preposterous! Obama and Hillary did NOT collude w Russian troll farms!!!
5
Let's say it plain: elimination to Facebook.
8
It would be eliminated if people didn't use it.
Do you need to be saved from yourself? Do you not have the courage on your own to just get off it if you think it's no good?
Take some personal responsibility.
6
Why is anyone surprised? What did peoplel think Facebook was doing to justify its $537B valuation? Monetizing cat videos? The beauty of it is that Facebook not essential to anyone's daily life. So rather than be outraged by anything it does, it's really simple, just get off of it. Will you miss out on what your 1000 closest friends are doing? Maybe but that might be the price you pay for what shred of privacy you have left. Stop blathering about regulating it. Just get off of it.
22
Might want to read this.
He is reported to have a $10m stake in the company, which was spun out of a bigger British company called SCL Group. It specialises in “election management strategies” and “messaging and information operations”, refined over 25 years in places like Afghanistan and Pakistan. In military circles this is known as “psyops” – psychological operations. (Mass propaganda that works by acting on people’s emotions.)
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/feb/26/robert-mercer-breitbart...
9
Per Wired/Newsweek: In 2015, Kushner hired Brad Parscale's digital firm for $91mil to target states with paid ads, social media, and other cyber tools. The campaign ran up to 50,000 Facebook ads a day to establish what resonated with voters, paying for 'dark posts' that show up in a voter's news feed but are publicly INVISIBLE. Russian-paid bloggers also sent millions of bots with fake Clinton stories tailored precisely to individual voters via email, Facebook, Twitter, political ads. Said to be a GRU operation--how did they know who to target? Longtime Trump consigliere Roger Stone boasted of conversations with GRU. Stone had also been in business with Manafort. Look forward to when it all comes out.
www.newsweek.com/trump-brad-parscale-russia-digital-guru-637322
7
Is anyone shocked?
I got more than a few messages from friends today saying that they plan to step away from FB because of how they feel violated. At first, we really only had to deal with ads...so it was simply pretty spam...annoying, but reasonably harmless if one didn't click on an ad (or hover over it). But with FB seemingly willing to sell data to anyone looking for it...along with questions of what is scrubbed and what isn't....it strikes me that FB is an unregulated cousin of the financial services companies...and a data source that can easily matched up to obtain insights on regulated information. It is just a matter of time until spreads to healthcare data.
Come to think of it - didn't FB start by hacking into different face books at various universities. Apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
9
If you read more about it (look up Christopher Wylie and select the Guardian and the Observer articles), Facebook didn't sell data. People downloaded an app that was advertised on other sites, got paid for taking a survey and agreed (in fine print) to allow the app to access Facebook. Because Facebook was not very secure, they were than able to access data from all those peoples friends. Facebook is partially at fault, but they didn't sell data. They got nothing. It was the parent company of Cambridge Analytics (think Steve Bannon and Mercers) that lied to Facebook about the data and created this targeting tool. And guess what? There is a Russia connection - again.
7
While this is hard to do, let’s put aside thoughts about Trump, Facebook and foreign (private or governmental) sowers of confusion. What if in a future campaign, the major party candidates for President sought to reach voters by emails or a dedicated website without using foreign staffers or Facebook and without the on-line equivalent of misleading robo calls? If the two campaigns were to accumulate voter contact information and personal data through local canvassers, the process of mobilizing voters by web communications could be both legal and effective (and within the means of the typically overfunded national campaigns). The resulting widespread campaign use of the web communications could be overly intrusive, but much of that intrusiveness has already been a feature of our political campaigns, in which the shaping of news and ads to saturate the voters has been around for a long time.
Well, that felt good. I just quit Facebook. #cufb
14
If you have a FB account and do not like the fact that you with your personal data are the product, don't complain, delete your FB account.
16
The more I read about Mr. Wylie, the more I fear for his safety.
12
This is the claim by people with an agenda but social media has a left slant and it is hard to imagine that they would vote differently. Mining data is done by Google and Yahoo all the time. In fact, it is done by your email carrier and your web browser. It is done by the car you drive and even your utility company.
2
Mining our online retail activity is one thing -- distasteful, but it pays the bills to support the platform.
Mining our personal information and targeting us individually with false information to manipulate our vote is another thing entirely. Not only is it immoral. It is a real threat to the freedoms for which our ancestors fought and died.
If this activity is not illegal now, Congress should pass a law making it a federal crime quickly, in order to protect voters in 2018.
8
Facebook's response is unacceptable.
Congress should be investigating Facebook, but that won't happen as long as McConnell and Ryan are in leadership roles.
Since Mueller will have the relevant emails, I'm hoping that he finds something to send Robert Mercer and Rebekah Mercer to prison.
14
They sell you candidates the same way they sell you jeans, crossover SUV's, and personal grooming products. All tuned to your personal profile. They know what you're going to do before you do it, and they sell your psyche to anyone and everyone who'll pay. Be smart. Don't let them.
11
Now let’s see-what could possibly go wrong with letting one completely unregulated tech company have access to: all your personal information, know who all your friends and relatives are, what activities you like to do and with whom, what products you buy and use, and the identity of and login information to most of the websites you visit?
18
Misused is not the same as stealing. But if it was used in this way and not paid for to be used in this way, that's stealing. If I understand correctly, Massachusetts is taking the lead in policing this. That would mean, if anyone went to jail because of this, it would be through the state court and into a state prison - and no Trump pardons possible.
I love it.
You run a crooked campaign, you run a crooked presidency, you pay the penalty, Trump old boy.
7
'Protecting people’s information is at the heart of everything we do,” Mr. Grewal said. “No systems were infiltrated, and no passwords or sensitive pieces of information were stolen or hacked.”'
That's right. All that Aleksandr 'Alex' Kogan, a university lecturer in the Psychology Department at the University of Cambridge, who had received grant monies from the State University of St Petersburg, had to do was ask for the data, and Facebook said, 'Sure, here you are!'
https://www.varsity.co.uk/news/15192
Who needs enemies with friends like Facebook?
15
If Facebook information is being used as a weapon then Facebook should be required to do a thorough and verifiable background check on anyone or any organization purchasing Facebook data and include a ten day waiting period after the purchaser has been identified and verified.
Facebook should also provide monetary compensation to those users whose information was used without their permission.
9
I dropped out of FB two years ago and have never looked back. My only wish is that my friends and family would do the same. Social media makes individuals fish in a barrel to those who profit from stealing information.
14
How on earth do we get the Hiffington Post and others to stop relying on Facebook accounts to provide feedback and opinions on articles and issues of the day!
Why is it impossible to talk with a human at Huffington Post? Are they a front operation for Russians just like Facebook?
7
Putin is a patriot, but on behalf of his idea of what Russia should be.
Robert Mercer, Rebekah Mercer, and Steve Bannon are not patriots.
11
Wake up Americans! Robert Mercer is the precise example of who benefits when Republicans Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan deregulate banks and financial markets - they are deadly deceptive robber barons accumulating wealth among the Oligarchy rulers!
NY Tomes: Why did the headline fail to include one key word?: illegal!
20
I signed up briefly, but found FB to be overly nosey and clingy. I don’t want that in real time relationships, and I sure won’t tolerate it in the electronic world. I find it pitiful how much information people aware willing to share with the world in pursuit of a pat of approval.
16
Private companies like this Cambridge Analytica are exploiting and weaponizing human emotion. It would not be wrong to say that people who act more on emotion and less based on his/her ability to gather relevant data/information and able to analyse it to reach an actionable conclusion.
Influence of emotion, allegiance to certain political and religious allegiance without much logic/fact, is growing in US for last few decades. Here too failure of our education system to mass manufacture brain-dead loyal servants for for-profit companies and various religious and political ideologies, become obvious.
7
It is only the peak of iceburg to say Trump Consultants missused Facebook data. If Mueller is allowed to finish his job we may find that Trump misused lots of things including his taxes, campaign funds and most certainly, women.
11
Can someone who posts a part of their lives on line really be outraged at a loss of privacy?
12
Yes.
8
FB should advise ALL users how their data is being used, and, with the new EU regulations regarding privacy and data usage, I am trying to figure out how FB is complying with the new rules. It is fairly obvious that FB makes money by using personal data. However, FB is indiscriminate on how it sells to data to firms like Cambridge Analytics. FB users should know. Unfortunately, U.S. laws are too liberal. One has to go to Europe to find out. Sen. Mark Warner should be cognizant of this seizure of information from private individuals.
9
Does anyone really believe they can post on Facebook, expose themselves on Facebook, get tracked by Facebook, and basically live their lives on Facebook, without repercussions? Seriously, Facebook, and social media in general, immediately appeared to many people as dangerous, straight out of the gate. Why would people buy-in to an unknown, which exists solely to turn a profit, and then after years of exploitation, declare this may not be a good thing? What's the expression? R U Woke? If not, then wake up!n Protect yourself!
4
FaceBook: Done. Delete.
10
Weaponized? You mean like Facebook and Google?
4
Big tech conspired with Putin to elect trump. Shameful!
9
FB, where is my cut of my $ from my information that you sold to other parties?
8
The core reason people signed up to Facebook is to efficiently communicate with friends and family. The toolset needed to do this is mature and surely an iron clad privacy agreement can be included.
Can someone please build an app to replace Facebook?
Remember to include an import my Facebook friends feature!
4
How about actually charging FB users a monthly fee. That would help get rid of bots and trolls. If an entity wants to flood FB with their particular propaganda, then they get to pay big bucks and have their name attached to it. Our society is finding out that anonymity in public spaces like the internet is not a good thing.
2
Consultants misused data.
No.
They used it too well and that is reason for the squawking.
8
Facebook and Twitter offer no value to society, they are just more corporate distractions from the reality American's never want to face.
10
So Facebook has known since 2014 that accounts were pulled by Global Science Research (GSR) and that GSR had a contract with Cambridge Analytica?
And the company said nothing, did nothing, but send a letter asking the parties to certify they had destroyed all the data? And the parties "certified" they had. And that was the end of Facebook's responsibility?
Americans have been too trusting in the adoption of new technology. Technology can both assist and be weaponized.
17
We need a smart electorate. More critical thinking on part of people is needed to safeguard democracy. They should always remember there's no perfect world and there're always three sides to a story: my side, your side and the right side.
Media -- like anything else remains a business and -- needs consumers to sell its wares.
9
The consequences on our society would be profound, no less dangerous than the Russian cyper-hackings.
Let's hope that Special Counsel Mueller and his team will have enough time to bring the potential criminals before the court.
5
If I understand the facts, DJ Trump's political campaign advisers fraudulently accessed private Facebook users' detailed information from Facebook databases and used that information to weaponize a Fake News and Alternative Facts presidential campaign that defeated Mrs. Clinton's campaign for president.
I further understand that frudulent access of private information in the US is not a felony. The recourse is civil courts. And the special prosecutor can not make a case against Trump based on fradulent access into Facebook databases that detail user's profiles.
Given these high bars to impeach Trump, Americans are living in a liberal vacuum: the prosaic principles enshrined in the Constitution to protect private citizens from the heavy hand of government doesn't affect "candidates" for executive office.
It is a 'smoke and mirrors' utopian democracy. Eventually the smoke clears and the mirrors reflect the truth: a dystopian corporate oligarchy similar to Putin's Russia, without the glaring indiscretions of Putin's assasins.
6
Trump is America's first Bad Deal President.
8
Facebook selling its data is only part of the problem. It is dangerous to have even benign personal information easily available to both casual observers and hackers.
Case in point: Facebook often lists the high school attended. Many password security questions ask for high school mascot. Duh?
5
I think it's possible we underestimate the sophistication with which these data mining techniques are getting used. The weren't used solely to influence the number of votes - after all, HRC won the popular vote by some three million. I suspect that they specifically looked at the data and asked: ok, how can we get the most ELECTORAL votes, which is exactly what did happen. It's also obvious, by extension, that these techniques are used to help gerrymander districts, a pretty complex thing when you think about it. They don't just draw the district lines at random and say "OK let's try this!" A lot of computer data goes into drawing those weird shapes.
15
Good idea to put the people who did this in government with access to all that IRS and NSA data? Wouldn't seem so. They need to go.
4
Please shut Facebook down.
10
Facebook: I am shutting my account down. And signing-up for the class-action suit.
Cambridge Analytics: thieves and traitors.
16
So what if Trump consultants exploited Facebook data of many millions of unsuspecting people?
There was no collusion.
3
But conspiracy...more than likely
Incompetence...definitely
Corruption...well that was the whole point of this venture
2
you miss the point. this article lays out the collusion link. DO you not see Bannon's role here? Do you think for one second that Bannon would hesitate to funnel data to the Russian troll farm?
3
Because they stole the data from millions without their consent. Where they got consent they lied about the purpose of requesting the data.
Hillary was once mocked about using the term "vast right wing conspiracy."
Who is laughing now?
27
I have deleted my Facebook account. NO MORE.
12
Matt, magnificent reporting... tie in software at Renaissance, Mercer's software algorithm heaven run by a man with a sick son... tape reading is no longer, it's about trending in milliseconds, proximity & data mining, meta data, all the games, with similar if not identical challenges in Facebook and Cambridge, the Dark Crowd at the DIA and in Moscow know, no citizen trust FB or any of them... kleptomania rules a criminal element in Moscow and Wall Street alike. They will cleave off from the rest of humanity. Bannon destroy what he touches, as will our fair haired twitting liar in The White House. It takes millions to produce the data, software grooming costs millions a month, physics and math majors that know nothing but algorithms run things... NOTE: the '40 Act funds may not be priced according to The Disclosure Committee that met under SEC Chairman Bill Casey... hence, the ability to destabilize with markets in the dark. Bloomberg terminals publish data that needs the most careful look from the SEC of Walter Jay Clayton, who never sat in a trading department... lawyers cannot regulate what traders do at this point, they must regulate reporting and trading mechanisms that manipulate sequence and trend. The same stuff cuts Facebook inputs, outputs, and the exploitation of bogus information and spin that pushes the impulse voter that calls elections.
1
It might be interesting, say, to compare so-called psychographics from one so-called firm with those from another in order to determine each's efficacy in modifying behavior, in what ways they differ, and in what ways the ways, contrasted with each other, make the claim of being able to influence the behavior of people. So, in consequence, to determine the margin of efficacy between them would be to arrive at a norm for this kind of activity. It might be sort of like determining, say, the rates of security of the products of voting machine companies, finding which machines are more likely to be hacked than others. The sort of similarities which may exist between the results of both inquiries could be in some way illustrative of the profit motive. To ask whether or not such endeavors are vain and or "scam--and a fraud", might be tantamount to asking whether or not the facial characteristics of Kogan and Zuckerberg are similar, and if that has anything to do with such endeavors supra-politically speaking.
1
The biggest threat is not the data FB or any other data collection service has, it's how it is used.
When evil people take to manipulating peoples personal information against them, for any purpose, they should be stopped.
Even people who give their information freely, should not be subjected to underhanded players like the Bannon's and Mercer's of the world.
17
With all the hacking, the extensive privacy policies that are less than worthless and other online abused, methinks we will come full circle to where snail mail will once again be used for sensitive information. As long as instantaneous transmission isn’t a concern, that may be the safest way to safeguard information.
2
Mueller is going to indict Cambridge the Mercers and Bannon, just watch.
8
That would be a wonderful Easter present.
6
Will the connected dots eventually lead to Jared, who was involved in digital media during the presidential campaign?
7
Bannon is (was) a director of Cambridge Analytica.You do remember the impact of his nomination on the Trump's campaign, do you?
5
Stuff is used against the population...then a few years later it is "leaked" to release pressure, and avoid a giant surprise if its uncovered in a non-controlled manner. Wikileaks, Snowden...these are flares to release the steam. Notice this is happening at a faster rate, because its harder to hide this stuff anymore. Back in the day people didn't find out about it for 50-70 years, if ever.
1
Every day, I find new reasons to celebrate deleting my Facebook account months ago.
6
Golden Rule of social networking:
Tweet others as you would have them Tweet you.
6
Tell that to President Twitler, or David Dennison or John Barron.
2
How much did Facebook get paid for giving away our information?
17
Nothing. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/data-war-whistleblower-chri...
1
Plan the Facebook Burning?
9
This is what comes when profit is valued over ethics. It's going to take not only persistence (which is happening!) but _widespread_ awareness and effort to turn this around before it's too late to save us and the habitability of our country and our planet.
7
Trump is a total criminal, but then informed people knew that already.
5
Please, oh please, somebody link the Mercers to the Russians.
15
The Mercers look like villans from a James Bond movie. Makes sense that Bannon would be closely part of their sick world.
4
My wife became aware of this happening during the campaign. An avid "Not My President" voter, every fifth or so time she commented "keep this con out of the White House", she'd receive a slew of pro-Trump ads from 'special interest groups' and anti-Hillary messages from "Patriotsfor...whatever'. Being from the advertising industry on the media side before working with neural network software companies, she recognized the bots. Continually blocking them did little as there were so many. Lately, these have been popping up again...perhaps in an attempt to lessen the Mueller investigations credibility? Be vigilant. Report these posts.
36
Facebook exploits the data. Why is this headline news?
4
It’s long past time for some restraints be placed on entities that do business in the online realm. We’ve too long had a hands off approach as the tech industry has whined at every turn that regulation could stifle innovation. Yet here we are. Turns out, unfettered manipulation of the masses stifles democracy in a very dangerous way.
11
Trump is actually deregulating them...!
4
Weaponized data should not be treated any different than a nuke.
They are equal threats... one leaves radioactivity but both destroy lives and countries.
8
I've been off facebook now for 9 years and loving it. I quit this addiction the way I did with nicotine. Cold turkey, not looking back since day one. Of course I told my friends that we are still friends and they know how to find me if news and invitations and whatnot need sharing.
My days have been more productive (wrote a novel and won an award for it, published a few short fictions, wrote and staged a play, did gardening, learned to cook more, took up running, did yoga, etc.), and my friendships are cherished to new levels (face to face conversations over wine and cheese, visiting friends in the hospital after they've given birth, volunteering together, traveling to Europe and Asia, etc). Never once did I miss the "Like" counter for these things that I was able to do.
I was on facebook the day it went out of college campuses as I worked in a multinational ad agency then and we were told that this is the next big thing that we can make money off the client's marketing budget. This was the time of the "taking sexy back" and "poking" cutesy nonsense to make facebook seem easy, relatable, friendly. So from the start, I and the rest in the industry knew what's this is about. Selling you stuff while we sell your stuff. Yes, we are selling you something while selling you too. Building communities? That's the throwaway line to lend presentation slides some gravitas and sell facebook to the C-Suite.
I quit. So can you.
23
The arrogance of these people is astounding. The insanity of Trumpism still hasn't normalized this sort of behavior by the uber-rich from my perspective at least. The discontent that lead to the French Revolution comes to mind. I'm sure the 1% feel safely ensconced behind their walls of money and laugh at the idea of a violent uprising reshaping the world (couldn't happen in this day and age...). Undoubtedly, something is going to happen along those lines and its going to be horrible for all involved.
12
Maybe that is why they don't want to give up the AR-15s.
6
The French Revolution was a good thing for France; sometimes it is the sole way to clean the slate...
3
It amazes me how many Trump voters are worried that the US Government is spying on them and collecting their personal information yet have no problem putting their life's history on Facebook for all the world to see. They won't believe the major news networks regarding factual information, yet they will totally believe whatever they see on Fox and read on Facebook. They will only watch and read those outlets that support their biases. They care not about the truth. They only believe what they want to believe. As stated in Doonesbury several years ago, "Fox News. We Report, You Concur".
11
Really. So how many Trump voters do,you know? How about Bernie voters?
1
I'm so disgusted by this news that I'm planning to delete my account for ever. I do not like the idea of Facebook not being extremely careful with our privacy and information. I feel betrayed and my privacy violated.
10
Facebook users, you and everything about you is the product. If you believe social media is FB's product you are looking above the "line" on the quarterly report. Social media is a FB expense item. Their business model, and why FB capitalization value is as high as it is, dictate that information about it's users is delivered as detailed and efficiently as possible. FB users are as much clients as hogs are entering the slaughter house. The real users are those who pay money for the information.
8
Please read Jane Meyer's "Dark Money" to get a deep knowledge of the decades of libertarian money and strategy from the Koch Brothers and others of their ilk to destroy our government. She covers the Mercers and the use of Cambridge Analytica as one of many invasions of our democracy over the past decades.
19
A truly frightening read, brought to us by Coors Brewing, Koch Oil and the NRA.
9
This Mercer guy is a real pain. What to do with him? He has his hands on everything that goes against the American majority, namely every thing anti Trump. Get rid of this blowhard!
12
Odd how our tech billionaire "geniuses" fail to protect data.
Very odd.
Unless it's intentional.
15
Trump, quoted to day in the Washington Post: "“The Mueller probe should never have been started in that there was no collusion and there was no crime.”
---
Query: What percentage of crooks in hundreds of years of American history has said either of the following: "There was no crime" or "I didn't do it."?
15
This is the main reason I don't have a Facebook account and I never will.
5
Disappointing that Facebook didn't make enough efforts to preserve our privacy. As usual, greed trumps decency.
8
Will there be enough evidence to nullify the 2016 election results?
14
It is clear to those of us who use it that Facebook is a massive surveillance operation--one that refuses to allow users clear and effective ways to control privacy.
Almost every social media site/search engine that follows unique log-ins or computers is a massive surveillance operation: Google, Bing, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube (owned by Google), etc.
Facebook is the most egregious since it uses users "Likes" about music, books, TV shows, politicians, news programs, movies, etc., to build a detailed profile.
Yet, Facebook consistently confuses users about what data is and is not shared. It refuses to allow settings where users can forbid Facebook from sharing personal information with apps that their friends allow to have their information.
It is insane such a set up is allowed. If you have 400 friends with an average of 3 apps, then 1200 entities have your information WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT. That is massive surveillance when multiplied by nearly a billion users.
Users need to have full control over what Facebook, Google, and similar platforms share. The default should be "not sharing info" with outside entities. Mandate that users must give explicit consent to share information with any entity with which they have not chosen to connect. Friends should not be allowed to make that choice for others on social media.
Politicians can no longer claim ignorance. It's way past time for regulation of Facebook and similar platforms, and not just of political advertising.
17
Two disturbing thoughts come to mind with this story.
Eugenics. As described in the article, this type of big data analytics could be characterized as a sort of voter eugenics; attempting to breed a specific type of voter through highly focused, almost individualized, marketing.
These consultants and their financial backers have a remarkably poor regard for the average American. To these folks we seem to be simpletons who can be easily be monitored and effectively swayed to their benefit.
4
5:00 PM Sunday, March 18th... The Daily Beast just reported that Christopher Wylie has reported that he was frozen out of his FACEBOOK Account for reporting the role FACEBOOK played in the Cambridge Analytica breach of Citizen's private information. It just makes me sick... the greed, the narcissism, the lack of concern or understanding about the imperative role each individual's right to privacy plays in maintaining democracy. I am done. I will never look at FACEBOOK again. I applaud Mr. Wylie's supporting. And to every human being who is digitally connected. Don't you wonder WHY FACEBOOK never got around to reporting this breach until now. They have known and/or been aware of it for at least 2 years. Our Federal and State Constitutional Laws may not have kept up with the advances of technology but actively interfering in a political election, no matter what technology or tool is used is a felony in this country. If these people who have gained such wealth from these advances can't be accountable for their behavior or value the principals of justice... they have no business running a technology company. I bet Putin is sitting on the sidelines laughing so hard his spine hurts as he watches the USA destroy itself via greed and narcissism and lack of ethics.
13
The Guardian has a 13 minute video of Christopher Wylie - the whistle blower who broke open this sordid affair. It is a 'must' for anyone who is truly interested in this story and its horrifying, stupefying revelations.
Another young tech person with a conscience; think Edward Snowden. These are the people upon whom our supposedly civilized society rests.
9
Snowden is a traitor.
2
On the surface, Facebook looked stupid, trite, and I simply have too many things to do vs. posting and watching someone else's posts. So, I decided not to partake in the Facebook frenzy.
I elected to opt-out., mostly on the premise of wasting time. As time passed by, I grew weary if Facebook is free --- how are they in business? Naturally selling ads, but also selling info.
I encourage everyone to opt-out of Facebook. Get a life and do something, vs. watching it pass by via analyzing if your friends like you.
6
When is this gangster Trump and his Russia mafia backers going to be removed from the White House -- there is not way that these people are not criminals.
9
I don’t understand why some people do the things they do. I’m sure they don’t understand what motivates me, either. The biggest mystery to me is why those who are driven to accumulate more money than they will ever be able to spend never seem to be able to get enough of it, and why, in their pursuit of yet more money, they have to interfere with my life.
That being said: I don’t begrudge the ultra-wealthy their money. I’m content with what I have, which for me is enough. What I do begrudge is that while some of those very wealthy folks are among the most creative among us, they use their creativity to manipulate me and my being.
I spent my working years as a nurse. I lack the creativity to invent or paint or sculpt, so I earned my living by doing what I did well, working on a burns unit in a Children's Hospital at the beginning of my career and working in Hospice for the final decade. I worked hard, but I loved the work and made a decent living. The rewards of my work mean as much to me as gobs of money means to others. I don’t think that makes me any better than someone who spends their life working to manipulate me and those around me, but I resent that they contribute little of worth to society and what they have contributed has had consequences that are not beneficial to my pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness and that of those I love.
This article reminded me why I sometimes am distressed about humanity. Sometimes it's not very humane.
18
This about Facebook's failure to safeguard the privacy of 50 million plus users. Police have to obtain a search warrant to gain access to an individual's Facebook account. However all one really needs is to label themselves as researcher to gain access to millions of users. Can Facebook tell consumers just how many other "researchers" globally have gained access to the accounts of over 2.2 billion users? Of those "researchers" how does Facebook warranty that the information has been safeguarded or deleted after the "research"? How many researchers have shared Facebook's information with their nation's internal police?
In 2014 the US Supreme Court held that warrantless searches of our cell phones is illegal. Perhaps Congress should see that our online accounts be given the same respect, because nobody knowingly creates a Facebook account agreeing to be manipulated for political purposes.
7
A little late with the outrage: Google, Amazon, every credit card company, every vendor we charge to, and of course the NSA have been doing this for years. We lost our privacy a long, long time ago.
8
Cambridge Analytica proudly boasts to have a "nationwide database of demographic, consumer, lifestyle, and psychographic data of every adult in the United States" (https://ca-political.com/casestudies/casestudycruzforpresident2016). Where do these data come from? They were used for the project "Ted Cruz for President." How CA helped Donald J. Trump "win the White House" can still be read on https://ca-political.com/casestudies/casestudydonaldjtrumpforpresident2016. But there was a second activity in 2016, "Make America Number 1 (MAN1)" with the project "“Defeat Crooked Hillary” (DCH)" (https://ca-political.com/casestudies/casestudymakeamericanumber12016). Reading this makes me shudder.
7
So now it's not just Russia, but Russian Analytics? Dear Lord. Guess the real sad thing about this whole deal is, I don't even have a FB account. So the jury is out on how the Russians manipulated me in NOT voting for HRC? Even though I have dozens upon dozens of reasons, and not one has to do with anything Russian. At least not that I'm aware of...yet?
1
How about we all take a nice, long break from Facebook and Twitter?
6
more illegitimacy to attach to trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and his subsequent election. with cambridge and its owners discredited and their shenanigans exposed, the 2018 midterms and the 2020 general may (hopefully) play-out on a level playing field – just the kind of honest, even-handed dealing trump and his nefarious benefactors hate, because it’s the kind they and trump have always failed at.
5
Well Now, Garbage in Garbage Out/ Personal data in Personal data out/
I am satisfied that I do not have a Facebook account. I thought that sooner or later this type thing would happen. Privacy is not going to happen, This is just the tip of the iceberg so to speak.
1
The evil here is not Facebook but Cambridge Analytics. However, the fact is that privacy no longer exists. We all now live in a tiny village with all on the same party line and exposed. The Mercer, Mellon, and Koch families know how to exploit and steal from our lack of privacy.
8
Let's see how far American and British lawmakers really go in their investigation in Facebook and holding them accountable. If the Equifax fiasco is any indication, Zuckerberg will be called to testify to a committee, the committee will rake him over the coals verbally for a while for the cameras but ultimately Facebook will face no legal or monetary disciplinary action. Instead, Facebook will offer its customers a new paid service to freeze their personal information.
7
Meanwhile--and this is quite relevant to the topic here--Microsoft is repeatedly running a TV ad featuring a non-white pitchman pushing the idea that "AI [artificial intelligence] will help us change the world". Blend that in with what is being complained about here, even though the object of the complaint here appears to be imaginary. "Artificial intelligence" is nothing if not a mass of data, gathered and processed and used, to some effect. Should it be banned, along with Facebook?
2
Remind anyone of “The Parallax View”? Chilling.
Recently, Facebook was in the news, as far away as in Sri Lanka. Racial riots broke out in the country, with the government suspending certain social media outlets, including Facebook.
Today's technology has helped social media organizations like Facebook, whose intent is to facilitate communication, between people. We are seeing today, there is the good and the bad side to this technological tool.
In summary, this article is telling us how people are exploiting the 'open field' of Facebook. A place to spread and distort messages, and promote nefarious activities. We have yet to see, someone like Mark Zuckerberg to come out and tell the public what action his Company plans to take, or if action has already been implemented. If he is not prepared to do that, he should close down his organization, before any further damage is done. It is time for our lawmakers to initiate laws and policy to establish guidelines for social media groups, and strengthen safeguards on people's privacy.
3
Thats it. Time to impeach David Dennison!
10
John Barron too!
2
'“We will take whatever steps are required to see that the data in question is deleted once and for all — and take action against all offending parties,” Mr. Grewal said.'
So.. what action were they thinking of taking? A slap on the wrist?
Perhaps a "Don't do this again," over martinis?
Maybe "Don't get caught next time," during a round of golf at Mar-a-lago?
4
Striking how respondents put on a tough guy barking suit when they type. Basically using all CAPS. This belligerence is ok in people who have no positions of responsibility but people like that cannot be trusted to manage or behave responsibly in a organizational position or anything that involves complex cooperative collaboration required in projects for public service. Deplorables turned out to be politically incorrect, anyone have suggestions for a good word?
The Equifax breach aggravates me far more than this.
8
Which is worse , looking closely at peoples Facebook pages or the Clinton campaign giving millions of dollars for a dossier of fake news to Fusion to be used by the FBI for a FISA warrant to spy on Trump?
3
I would have to say the former, since the latter never happened.
6
A Russian "academic" was the individual whom FB so cavalierly handed it's users data over to. What a surprise.
The links between American conservatives and Putin's Russia could not be plainer for anyone WILLING TO SEE THEM.
Wake up Americans. Your conservatives are betraying you.
17
For the good of the world:
Quit Facebook
15
Isn't it the case that many people on FB use it to promote their "best self"-- and thus the endless stream of images of how wonderful, beautiful, smart etc. they are? How is this phony stuff valuable to political campaigns? It doesn't tell you what people really feel or experience.
3
The phrase "private information from Facebook profiles" is a contradiction in terms. Facebook is not your doctor. It is not a hospital. Joining it is not required by law, nor is it it necessary to one's health or well-being. Any information it has about its users is freely given to it BY its users. It is the responsibility of those users to consider what (if any) information about themselves they're comfortable with the whole WIDE WORLD knowing before they upload that information to the WORLD WIDE Web.
I understand the inclination to condemn anything even remotely attached to the Mercer cartel, but this is a slippery slope. The crux of the article supports the fallacy that users of Facebook have a reasonable expectation of privacy. They don't, and they never did. Suggesting otherwise explicitly endorses the abdication of personal responsibility. Given the consequences we've seen of such abdication in the executive branch of late, I should think this is the last thing the Mercers' enemies want to encourage.
1
You is the point. With the Mercer money, Bannon had the tool he needed. Do you think he didn't funnel the product to the Russian troll farm? Open your eyes.
1
I fully support shredding "Facebook" as well as disabling all "social networking" on the internet (well, at least disable access to such on all mobile devices--maybe a PC in a stationary place in your home or office is different?). Why? It is ruining the culture, ruining life in the "public square". But if there is a point in this Wylie/Cambridge story, it is only in the imagination of the leftists who so despise Mr. Trump. And even if Wylie, et al., stumbled upon some obtuse, cyber-mystical way to sway voters via data-mining their Facebook "likes" (etc.), what is the real difference between that and the Clintons (and other Democrats) making the rounds of all the black churches in close districts? Or using "focus groups" to test their campaign spiels? Or faxing (now e-mailing or texting) around "talking points" on every issue, so they all go on all the Sunday TV shows and use the same exact words? (Remember "Bush lacks gravitas"?) Except for the tools utilized?
4
Make America Great Again by getting rid of Trump.
9
This is bunk, and it illustrates just how The Times and the rest of the liberal media manipulate news to the benefit of the left. If anyone is to blame for the information gleaned from Facebook postings, it is Facebook, who failed to secure their site and the information provided by their gullible users. Publicly available data is the property of nobody; it is there for the first entity to use to their advantage.
2
Let's use your data first and foremost.
4
Another comment that misses the point. Bannon!!! With the data that Mercer's money accumulated, do you think Bannon would have hesitated for one second before he funnelled it to the Russian troll farm?? Can you spell collusion? it's not a hard one. But you have to open you eyes.
"Younger people will hopefully use sites that don't ask for or exploit their personal data."
You can't know which web sites play a part in creating your unique personality profile because of aggragation techniques that match data gathered on one site with other data gathered at other sites.
Even anonymous data can be matched to individual users. Not all of it or all the time. But drip by drip, data on you and your neighbors and children accumulate and is used to target motivating messages for both political and economic gain.
If you think that you are not susceptible you are wrong. This data and associated algorithms target our particular pattern of features grounded in basic human nature.
Besides, the point isn't to change your mind or strong opinions. The point is to motivate your audience to act (eg. Vote, donate money and time) while exciting or motivating the opposition to act.
Nobody cares what you as an individual think. What they care about is finding those who are compatible with the action they want and getting them to act.
People who agree with their objectives are tools for their agenda. People who don't agree are the enemy. There is no marketplace where ideas compete to change minds and hearts. All there is is mobilizing your ideological base while discouraging or disabling opposing voters.
Looks like Trump election cheated by using stolen data... I'm not surprised. They should ALL go to jail... Lock them all up.
6
There's a very simple way to dignificantly reduce this corrupt, unethical, and dangerous mass manipulation of over 2 billion Facebook users -- which represents almost a third of humanity! First: end all advertising on Facebook and move to a paid subscription business model. Second: require strict profile authentication so as to minimize the risk of fake profiles.
Unfortunately, greed dominates in American capitalism and Facebook lacks the ethics, social responsibility, and courage to give up some profit in exchange for protecting democracy here in the States and across the globe.
5
The thing is, I never seemed to find time for FB. And I don’t have time for too many people in my life anyway, so whenever I need to blow off some steam I’ll pontificate around the NYT comments. How do so many people find so much time to spend on FB? Don’t they have jobs and work and get exhausted and come home and pass out? Finally truly enlightened persons know that the masses are much like sheep, waiting to be herded.
2
What is truly scary is that 50% of Americans get their news from Facebook.
The dumbing-down continues.
10
What’s even scarier is that 50% of America walks around all day with their noses glued to their smartphones looking at whatever flickers across the glass. To call what they’re bedazzled by news does a real discredit to news, the way Walter Cronkite reported it.
2
The NYT had more of an effect on the election than Facebook & the Russians combined. The NYT misreading of election was an absolute disaster.
7
Leave Facebook, but guess which voters will still be on FB: the ones who were manipulated easily in the first place. As long as Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and the other real influencers are out there (not to mention Wall Street paying for senators), we won't have a robust democracy.
2
I'm still not convinced that all this data gathering has actually influenced our election. So, the other party make customized ads, or something like that. So what!
6
If advertising didn't work to influence people's behavior, companies and organizations would not have spent nearly $600 billion on advertising in 2017.
1
You do understand that they stole information, right?
1
Worried, that’s $600 billionspent to convince us to buy and use things regardless if they’re good for us or not. Somehow I’m not completely convinced Russia is our worst enemy.
Facebook embedded their own employees in the campaign? Hmm this suggests that psychologically manipulative advertising based on user data is part of Facebook's normal business practices. You use Facebook for free, but they own your data.....and the millenials and Gen X'ers don't seem to care about privacy. But then again, they have not yet seen all the consequences of this brave new world.
8
Nearly a century ago William F Ogburn coined the term “Cultural Lag” to describe how cultural and social practices generally are slow to adapt to changes in technology. This certainly appears to be the case in our current society where, despite the many valuable uses of internet based communication, we often find ourselves at the mercy of those who exploit the technology and our own weaknesses for their own not so benign purposes. It has always been thus.
4
The media is complicit in facebook info gathering. Almost all websites,including news and even sports use facebook for their comments section. What an easy way to gather political insight.
i've never used facebook or any of the other social media apps. It's just like all the dna ads to check your ancestory. why not just send the dna samples directly to the cops, the cia or the republican info gathering gurus?
6
Having been an army interviewer and instructor, if I wanted to break a prisoner or develop or recruit a source, there is nothing I would like much better than such a data base, except perhaps medical records. I would search for access to the information, hostility or sense of injustice, Gill ability, etc.
Such data bases should be considered highly sensitive information requiring both a very high security clearance and high character.
If I wanted to develop underground resistance and or terrorism I would also want such a data base. Perhaps in this case it was not treason. Perhaps it was greed. Perhaps it was nativity or gullibility.
4
Dude, I've got to party with you. That time you interrogated x and he told you about zy and what happened? Oh, that's killer, dude.
The Trump campaign was neck deep in illegal efforts to change the 2016 outcome. Was Trump directly involved?
7
He’ll never admit it if he was. He’ll just produce some of his made-up "facts."
Manipulation of people's attitudes has been going since the advent of mass media. TV helped sell the demise of the progressive tax structure that built the middle class: "Isn't capitalism great?" Any notion of Democratic Socialism was drowned out by incessant commercial messages promoting commercialism itself. TV evangelists also jumped on board, selling the conflagration of nationalism with the national religion. Their anti-governmental message is the logical extension of the fear of godless communism.
Psychological science was employed. Scientists found, we are hard-wired to think of $29.99 as well under thirty bucks. Now, as with Cambridge Analitica, psych science is used to create algorithms that can better target the persuadable.
"Killing the Messenger" by David Brock is an enlightening read. Decades ago Brock worked for the Republican fake news machine before switching sides and founding Media Matters for the soul purpose of identifying Republican misinformation. Speed is of the essence, he found, as they were unable to squelch the Clinton - Benghazi kerfuffle before it took hold in the public mind.
Civil war is going on. All that matters is votes. The most powerful voters in the world don't pay attention because of a general disgust with politicians and with government itself. Have you noticed how acceptable it is, in nearly all circles, to express an anti-governmental point of view?
6
“ … warnings from their lawyer that it was illegal to employ foreigners in political campaigns …”
Illegal immigrants in the DACA program were encouraged to volunteer in Hillary’s campaign. People in the DACA program complain that the program does not provide protection from deportation and work permits for their undocumented relatives, as well as for everyone who wants to come here. They want the United States to open its borders and to provide for everyone who crosses them.
No foreigners should be allowed to either contribute to or work on our political campaigns. They do not have our country’s best interests at heart.
7
Bernie people were for Bernie. Hillary people were for Hillary. And Trump people were for Trump.
And no one had their minds or votes changed because they saw a post, tweet or meme on social media.
4
"And no one had their minds or votes changed because they saw a post, tweet or meme on social media."
How did a Trump/Bernie/Hillary supporter BECOME a supporter? By hearing, seeing or reading something. Some folks will believe anything they are told, read or hear.
3
My respect for someone is inversely related to how much time they spend on Facebook
Deactivate!
8
How did Cambridge Analytica make Bill Clinton sign outsourcing agreements in the mid-90's? How did they make Hillary defend NAFTA in Michigan, which she lost to both Bernie and Trump?
Try taking a tour of the hollowed out bulk of America known as Flyover Country. And then you'll know why Trump and Bernie were so popular during the last election cycle.
1
None of us are above the manipulation by the Russians using the stolen data used by Cambridge Analytica.
We all are susceptible to targeted manipulation, driving us to irrational anger, fear and confirmation bias.
They manipulated the left just as they did the right.
Check out the memes the Russians made to manipulate us on climate and energy.
http://clairecohencortright.blogspot.com/2018/03/what-does-russian-attac...
5
I shut down my Facebook account today. I was never one of those people who lacked the critical thinking skills to see the active campaign against Hillary on FB, but I'm just done.
10
Instead of just taking away his facebook account he should be going to jail. And Trump should pay the consequences which he has yet to pay for anything, including Stormy Daniels.
6
Well, I guess the Republicans decided to follow the Obama team's winning playbook strategy to manipulate the minds of voters to create the illusion that we all wanted the government to control more of our lives at that time.
This is a textbook case that illustrates what fake news is. It's a "monumental discovery" when it's about the same processes utilized by the Republican opposition. Gosh, I guess the motives justified the means then, all without much question from the NY Times.
What the email correspondence between Cambridge Analytica employees and Kogan shows is that Kogan had collected millions of profiles in a matter of weeks. But neither Wylie nor anyone else at Cambridge Analytica had checked that it was legal. It certainly wasn’t authorised. Kogan did have permission to pull Facebook data, but for academic purposes only. What’s more, under British data protection laws, it’s illegal for personal data to be sold to a third party without consent.
“Facebook could see it was happening,” says Wylie. “Their security protocols were triggered because Kogan’s apps were pulling this enormous amount of data, but apparently Kogan told them it was for academic use. So they were like, ‘Fine’.”
Kogan maintains that everything he did was legal and he had a “close working relationship” with Facebook, which had granted him permission for his apps.-From today's Guardian Article
6
Deleted my FaceBook account yesterday.
It's easier than I thought.
5
So to sum it up, either Liberal voters are mindless cows who will follow the cow in front of them, or the voting populace was sick of establishment politicians saying one thing before they were elected and doing quite the opposite after they were elected. It is probably a combination of the two, but are Libs only upset because someone else led the cows for a change?
1
Reading this article, I still don’t understand how the Trump campaign “exploited” this material in the actual election. All that I can see is how a group of psychology and technology fetishists hoodwinked investors and clients into over-believing in the power of the almighty “big data” boogieman. I guess someone out there will be interested in the psychological profile of that small number of Facebook users who are lame and lonely enough to take a break from cat videos to actually bother with a personality test. I just find its usefulness limited.
My guess is that most right wingers use Facebook for the same reason left wingers do...to spy on their kids, spy on theirclassmates of 40 years ago, find cute videos and join various classic rock fan groups.
2
Time to delete that FB account.
5
Trump benefitted from Cambridge Analytica and Facebook; Trump should be declared illeagel because of the tampering. Trump/Kushner is so corrupt; and Brad Pascal is involved in 2010 Trump campaign. Trump firing Mueller WILL END HIS PRESIDENCY. Trump keeps attacking Mueller; which makes Trump look even more guilty.An innocent person would cooperate and speed up the investigation.America needs to have the investigation completed;to find the truth. TRUMP FIRES MUELLER ENDS TRUMP PRESIDENCY. Ray Sipe registered Florida voter AARP member
3
Libs are all upset that the GOP used their own data mining program against them.. Plain and simple.. that's what this is about.
1
New York Times commenters need to read the Guardian before weighing in on this Times piece. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/data-war-whistleblower-chri...
6
I'm reading it now and WOW!
Why has the venerable NYTimes been dumbing down its reporting lately?
1
The entire objective of Facebook is to generate detailed psychometric personality profiles based on the intimately revealing and unvarnished information people post to Facebook and the relationships they maintain on the Facebook network and then to use this to sell products and services to you.
Too bad that one of those products is an election result and a Brexit referendum distorted by targeted messaging funded by big money interests and Russia.
There is no doubt that Facebook provides a great facility for connected groups of people to share thoughts and experiences.
However, in my view Facebook needs to be remodelled to match the dynamics of real human society.
We build a network of friends in the real world by creating real relationships. Things we might discuss with our friends are effectively contained within our network of friends. Bad ideas and comments are filtered and suppressed and good ideas might be discussed with someone else. It is hard for things to go viral and be heard by millions of people in the real world.
It should not be possible to voyeuristically browse someone else’s life on Facebook unless they invite you as a friend.
Your personal data should forever remain within the Facebook database. The sale of your personal data should be banned by law.
As AI advances it will become even more imperative for automated agents to be banned from Facebook.
The power to manipulate the “human herd” is not something that can be trusted to nerds.
11
People using FB must realize they are posting information to a public billboard. Read the terms, FB doesn’t guarantee privacy.
When Obama’s team (including foreigners) used social media to glean information and predict voter’s inclinations, the NYT’s approved. Now, with a conservative team doing the same thing, it’s invasion of privacy.
Mrs. Clinton lost because she was a horrible candidate. She stabbed the popular Democrat candidate in the throat. She lied about her email server. She is as charismatic as lichen. The voters weren’t brainwashed by some Mandarins into voting for Trump. They just couldn’t vote for Hillary.
8
Thank you for stating the obvious !
1
In 2014 I signed up for Facebook, read their terms and conditions a month later and deleted my account. Unscrupulously greedy, and evil as that greed has been shown to be, Facebook adheres to their own policies. Most folks are unhappy that their policies allow Cambridge Analytica level of sharing data, even with the professor who obtained the data under the guise of doing academic research.
The harsh reality of the internet is that "private" data isn't private and it is subject to legal and illegal exploitation. The only 100% certain way of self protection is to minimize sharing of critical or embarrassing information. Hackers have successfully obtained vast troves of supposedly private and critical data even to the extent of hacking into US power grid controls.
The populace needs to come to grips with the fact that social networking isn't "free" and Facebook, and all "free" social media will make use of their customers any way they can to make money. They don't run their media site out of the goodness of their hearts.
10
Although it could be that Trump did not directly collude with the Russians, but it is now looking like Facebook may have colluded with Trump and left the door open to Russian involvement. No matter how you look at it there was collusion and the Russians were involved.
4
Yes.. they bought uranium, made a donation to the clinton crime foundation, invented a fake dossier, etc..
1
At its core this situation appears to be about: brainwashing, greed, and power. America has proffered itself as a nation of freedom of expression and equal opportunity under the rule of law. “Brainwashing” was supposed to be the nefarious tool of totalitarianism. Apparently, the mechanism of totalitarianism has joined with capitalistic democracy. These techniques have been the basis of advertising for decades, influencing the buying behavior of consumers. American brains are being picked and manipulated. Computerization has given it more precision. Facebook, the willing or unwitting partner in this brain theft provided the data. Their motives, as well as the perpetrators, were greed, not a better America. Facebook’s near monopolistic grip on social media has made it too big to exist in a just and free society, not unlike Ma Bell. Zuckerburg’s charade as the cool, humanistic oligarch has been exposed. Social media is becoming a seductive threat to civil liberties.
That extreme right wing power mongers try to influence and subvert the electoral process cannot be a surprise. That these efforts are clandestine and illegal is at issue. Facebook repeatedly closing the barn door after the data has gotten out is horrific and unacceptable. Apologies and promises are meaningless. Where is Teddy Roosevelt when you really need him? These mega digital corporations need to be broken up. True competition needs to be stimulated and the market will punish or eliminate the bad actors.
6
"That extreme right wing power mongers try to influence and subvert the electoral process cannot be a surprise. " Especially as the left have been doing it for years!! When did the dems become Russian hunting McCarthyists?
1
If it makes you feel better Clinton’s corrupt manipulation of the Dem primaries was destructive, shameful, and probably illegal. This article was focused on right wing propaganda. The corporates don’t care who is footing the bill. With any objective enforcement of antitrust and election corruption laws neither side should gain improper advantage. But then there are some folks who have trouble understanding that or simply prefer the status quo.
So it may have been illegal for Trump to hire Cambridge Analytica because CA was run by foreign nationals, and CA may have broken the law by stealing Facebook data, but this focus actually obscures the insidious kernel of this story, which is that it would have been perfectly legal for a US politician to hire Facebook to do what CA did, and in fact Facebook IS doing this every day at least for commercial accounts, manipulating users’ behavior by feeding them “ads” that often contain fake news tailored to the users’ personality traits.
Why is this possible? Election laws and funding for enforcement are controlled by legislative bodies that are in turn controlled by corporations and the super-wealthy. When the wealthy can legally buy elections through campaign contributions, then they have enormous influence over the law and even when they do get caught breaking it, as in the rampant fraud that caused the worldwide financial crisis of 2008, their companies are fined instead of the real perpetrators going to prison, so there is no effective deterrent.
Electoral reform, getting big money out of political campaigns, would go a long way toward solving these and many other problems. Must Capitalism be the system in which Capital makes the rules? If it is naive to think otherwise, then we have a bigger problem.
9
I voted for Obama twice. Had I known he’d settle cases with banking bad actors gaming the system, versus perp walking them to trial and had I known he would have done nothing of consequence against Russian known meddling, I would not have voted for the reasonable-professor-lawyer. He sowed some mighty bad seeds that have germinated to our detriment.
2
This likely is one if the most relevant stories of our time.
I’m a subscriber with The New York Times and from now onward, I’m contributing financially to The Guardian, too. I left Facebook 2014 and i’m not a shareholder.
Vote with your feet, folks and let’s regain the agency that has been taken from us.
25
It is only the peak of iceburg to say Trump Consultants missused Facebook data. If Mueller is allowed to finish his job we may find that Trump misused a lot things including his taxes, campaign funds and nost certainly, women.
14
From the opening photo of Christopher Wylie, I thought he was an EDM artist or club DJ. The hair, clothes and street scene look like a fashion shoot. Guess that's how computer geeks look. I'm so square.
Cambridge Analytica should be fined big time and be barred from any future involvement in American elections, period!
6
I'm not comfortable with the TV ads Tom Steyer has purchased advocating Trump's impeachment but he doesn't hide behind Facebook or ALEC or phony citizen's groups like the Mercers and Kochs.
8
or move on,or antifa, or soros
*chuckle*
Bernie was waaay too successful raising money without corporate help. gotta shut that system down right quick.
she lost. Russia and facebook memes were not the problem.
2
Clinton voters need to have a boogie man to blame.. couldn't be that they lost because of a bad candidate..
1
On FB,I always wondered about those mini-psych "what type of XX are you", "What color are you", which "muppet" are you, and never took them.
My instinct was correct.
9
It does not help that some media outlets insist on a Facebook account to register, read or comment. When I come across a website (usually commerce) that wants me to register on their site with my Facebook account (which stopped existing in 2009), and offers no other choices but long form registration, I go elsewhere.
12
As with the contractors who were stiffed by Trump, I am sure the Cambridge Analyitica, Mercer and Trump himself, would tell us "so go sue me". I hope some of us will. And also start a class action suit against Facebook.
7
And we could also sue hillary for selling uranium to an enemy nation and the dnc for the fisa lie
1
now you know why I've had, and will never have, a faceplant profile. they're just plain inherently evil like harvard frat rat "social" environment they emerged from out of the slime to become.
and you think these bitcorn millionaires are annoying? I long ago bought ignificant swaps betting against faceplant. I think my lamborghini will be in a nice shade of red in a garage I'll build on to my house to keep it from getting dusty.
Don't people go to jail for this kind of hacking? If they don't, they should.
I was on Facebook for a month about a decade ago. I hated it. I don't like anything about Facebook, but even I am offended by the avaricious, craven behavior of the Trump campaign. This is another clear indication of Trump's nastiness and ruthlessness. His minions are evil and they learn it from their leader.
At what point is the American populace going to say enough is enough?
6
When did the dems become Russian hunting McCarthyists? And why are they so upset that fakebook was used against them..
A "mind#u!<" invention that rivals any totalitarian state has been unloosed upon the world by the Owl's Nest father-daughter team FOR YEARS! As an American interested in democracies thriving, these are despicable illuminations.
From years of seeing wacky ads on the internet, I always imagined surreptitious forces. Do yourself a favor: Imagine every vote-affixing (and -fixing) opportunity and know that there are Americans funding 'the best'!
Anyone surprised that a liar worked to elect The Liar? "..on 27 February (2018), as part of the same parliamentary inquiry, Rebecca Pow, MP for Taunton Deane, asked Cambridge Analytica’s CEO, Alexander Nix: 'Does any of the data come from Facebook?' Nix replied: 'We do not work with Facebook data and we do not have Facebook data.'"
Anyone surprised that Bannon spread a totalitarian cancer? "By that time (May 2017), Steve Bannon had become Trump’s chief strategist. Cambridge Analytica’s parent company, SCL, had won contracts with the US State Department and was pitching to the Pentagon, and Wylie was genuinely freaked out. 'It’s insane,' he (Christopher Wylie) told me one night. 'The company has created psychological profiles of 230 million Americans. And now they want to work with the Pentagon? It’s like Nixon on steroids.'"
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/data-war-whistleblower-chri...
3
I deactivated fb today.
FB is the king of fake news.
They will post anything from anyone for a buck
Keep the profits up and your shareholders happy and we will happily take your russian dollars
4
It seems we're in phase two in the evolution of a world-changing development. First came the ability to weaponize personal data, which of course was immediately exploited and there's no putting a lid on it now. Currently, as represented by articles like this, we have the emergence of a general realization of what's going on. And next (one hopes) will come doing something constructive about it...and off the top of my head it seems that a sort of Manhattan Project to empower Americans to understand contemporary media, messaging and manipulation could be a fruitful counter-approach. (Of course, we'd need to keep a tight rein on folks like the earnings-driven enablers at Facebook - who, as experienced experts in the field who crave positive PR, no doubt would step up to lead the effort.) Why is this important? Because democracy should be a transparent marketplace and, as described in this article, it isn't anymore.
3
Do we have any option to sue Cambridge Analytica, the creepy Mercers financing it, and the Trump campaign using it? For violating our privacy. It is now crystal clear how Trump won: with illegal manipulation of data; with help from Putin and Assange with whom he happily colluded; with voter suppression; and without popular vote. He clearly belongs to Russia, not to US. He losses all legitimacy to be president.
14
Trump never had legitimacy to be president. He may belong to Russia, but I prefer a stay in the Trump branded gray bar hotel.
2
Dumbed down by the American penchant for following fads , sad state of affairs when people don't realize they're being played by the Twitters , Facebooks , Snapchats et ali . No longer is there any intellectual curiosity since these sites provide instant ego gratification by the thumbs up thumbs down . The desire for that and strangers as friends shows an insecurity beyond reason where they post personal information ( along with lies) and their likes and dislikes makes them ripe for all the predators such as the Mercers and hostile nations . Naive !
4
Facebook needs to go.
7
Finally we get to the real collusion and abuse of the election process. When are the Mercers, Bannon and Conway going to be held accountable along with their clients in the White House and the Kremlin?
7
This seems like a good reason not to use Facebook to me.
Also, I think it's worth watching this space. I suspect, when all is said and done, whatever collusion vector (if any) Mueller finds with respect to the Trump campaign will flow through Cambridge Analytica. If I were part of any British Intelligence agency, I would be combing very carefully through these bozos' business records.
14
If you're among the 50 million and data was stolen, you can't undo what was done. However, FB has over a billion users.
What you can do for the future, is to terminate your FB membership, so they can't use any additional data you accumulate. And those whose data wasn't tapped, can do so, too.
This is how FB makes its money. If a few hundred million terminate their memberships, it will eventually impact them financially, and they will change. And if they won't too bad! They have no respect for you!
At least at this point in time maybe it will decrease the fake news they sponsor, and you will learn the truth from primary sources.
Why compromise your lives any further? And isn't this theft, just like all of the other data breaches?
19
Funny... I remember the New York Times praising the Obama campaign's masterful use of Big Data obtained through social media.
7
I remember that as well. The implication is that something very different has transpired this time. It would be helpful to see a compare and contrast between the two campaigns.
9
Did you read through the article? The difference is that Obama's campaign didn't use foreign agents to harvest data (They worked with states). The current major problems are the intricate manuvearing to hide the foreign presence AND the use of FB data without their explicit permission...amongst other lies to cover their track.
5
This form of data analytics has existed for years and is being successfully implemented by Google, Facebook and Amazon in the name of eCommerce. If you want to act naive and pretend that a political campaign is not about advertising for the purpose of influence, persuasion and (gasp) manipulation of the weak-minded to buy a product than you can stay in your NYT glass bubble while we watch your menagerie from out here in the real world. And yes, there is a "culture war" and, again, to pretend that it's one-sided and only being propagated by the right is again, grossly naive.
7
It does beyond the big names. I worked in IT and various companies sold
licenses for special software. That data was then collected and used
by my lazing company.
Another company tracked all website movement. This company has been doing it for decades.
I hate computers ...
1
After Trump was elected, I remember Ivanka giving some credit to Jarad for clever use of web data by the campaign...and so he had something to do with Cambridge Analytics.
16
One tidbit to take from this article is how psychological warfare is being perpetrated by foreign data manipulators, they cannot be called scientists. This was inevitable that this social tool would be used against us for marketing purposes but most people would have never thought it would be used to destabilize our society and government. Now that we know, let us make sure the the Mercers pay for violating our laws, these elitists believe they cannot be touched. The word is out and nothing on social media can ever be believed again. Knowledge is power.
10
While some AI geeks worry about some curiously religio-supper self improving sentient AI with strangely human motivations taking over humanity, what we have in reality is evil minded oligarchs using AI to give us a new age of demagogues from the Mercers to China.
I worry about the counter response. The Pages, Brins and Zuckerbergs of the world drive the AI are seem shockingly naive about how it might and is being used to the destroy the world that gave them birth.
4
Exceptional reporting.
Taking the money out of elections is the only way to stop this.
David Marell
NYC
11
Campaign finance is the evil in politics. Who can be so stupid as to believe Corporations are people.
3
The only reason this is news is because personal data was used in a high profile high stakes setting. But this kind of data exploitation happens ALL THE TIME, and in many domains-- like the financial sector and advertising-- we tolerate or even welcome it, despite the fact that such practices are rife with bias and are subject to the same slippery slope argument of setting precedents. This is not news to me.
10
We need federal regulations similar to HIPPA for our data. FB isn't evil but it is a business making money off of our information. Free is never really free and rather than charging us to use their platform, FB decided to sell our information to corporate America. This is why we need government to step up and set acceptable limits because FB won't do it for themselves, they would lose too much money.
4
How about we set hose limlits for ourselves? Use Facebook if you wish but understand the business that they are. Why do we need government regulation here? I'd be happier to see government stop selling information about us.
So is this such new news? It comes as no surprise to me that anybody running for high public office will resort to just about anything to win. Ever watched House of Cards on Netflix? I always believed it was all totally plausible. In that instance the culprit was a democrat. Party makes no difference.
3
Here, here!
2
Important article. I only wish it had the punctilious editing and smooth writing I so appreciate in The Times. Kogan is referred to as both Mr. and Dr. (small detail that never would have been missed back in the day, at least not on a major expose). In a story with nearly 20 characters, newbies (to me) make confusing re-entrances (Wylie, Nix, Grewal, Kogan, Levy). More significantly, the story never reveals what the headline promises: “How Trump Consultants Exploited the Facebook Data of Millions.” How they acquired the data is indicated, but how they went about using it to attempt to change votes is never explained or even acknowledged as a crucial unanswered question. Instead, we learn, in arguably excessive detail, how Cambridge Analytica was structured and restructured over time.
10
"... how they went about using it to attempt to change votes is never explained or even acknowledged as a crucial unanswered question."
Nor does the Times say anything about data validation. The article says:
"The researchers paid users small sums to take a personality quiz and download an app ..."
Paid users are not representative of all voters. Nor is there any reason to believe paid users answer questions honestly.
Dear NYT:
This may be a big deal, but it also may be more partisan anti-Trump hype. You identify Cambridge Analytica in the headline as a Trump campaign vendor, but it looks like they worked mainly for Sen. Ted Cruz. Moreover, the article neglects to state whether any of this allegedly purloined private data was actually used to elect Trump, or if the Trump campaign only used Cambridge voter modelling tools. So what?
Micro-targeting using publicly available information is not at all unusual, nor is it illegal. President Obama was a master at harvesting public data for electoral purposes.
Moreover, it is unclear if and how Cambridge violated US privacy laws or did anything more than hundreds of firms routinely do -- harvest Facebook information to develop customer profiles. Your description makes this harvesting sound like a routine practice that was permitted by Facebook itself:
"The researchers paid users small sums to take a personality quiz and download an app, which would scrape some private information from their profiles and those of their friends, activity that Facebook permitted at the time."
Finally, it may be true that Cambridge Analytica violated US election law by paying Brits to work on a presidential campaign. The Times has not demonstrated who did what, when. This is all based on an allegation by partisan Ds.
And how is hiring these Brits worse or any different that Clinton hiring ex-Brit spy Chris Steele to dig up Russian-sourced dirt on Trump?
5
They have acknowledged they used CA
1
Facebook is not a good investment it would seem
2
If one is simple enough to believe the bridge in the East River that goes to Brooklyn is for sale ..... they are very likely to respond to an ad on Facebook that it is for sale.
1
Written as if this was the first time this type thing has happened, what a joke.
Face it, until working Americans get term limits in place and stop such garbage as the NSA monitoring us all and Congress being exempt from the laws they create, this type thing will only get worse.
2
Thanks to Matthew Rosenberg, Nicholas Confessore, and Carole Cadwalladr for superb reporting.
5
I must have missed something. Was the data used? How? When? By whom? Cruz? Trump? Both? Others? If Trump were not in the headline, how many would have read?
So now we see another country - OTHER THAN RUSSIA - was also meddling in America's election, so why no whiny NYTimes uproar over British meddling like we have with Russia's meddling? Are our supposed friends allowed to meddle in our elections?
Some have already signalled acceptance of Brit meddling with Steele.
If a Democratic candidate used Cambridge Analytica and won, the NYT time would be singing its praises as a direct marketing tool. Silly, one sided, partisan, reporting is so transparent, please keep it up.
4
Bannon and the Mercers should be tried for Treason!
5
Rather than FB being evil I think FB is a Ft. Knox of personal information that individuals, nations, and businesses want to exploit for their own benefit. I enjoy using FB and I am sadder but wiser these days. I was surprised at how far back the mutual interests of Bannon and the Mercers went. They understand the power of information/propaganda delivery. I wondered why Bannon was so unceremoniously dumped from the WH when he was inline with Trump's nationalistic views. Perhaps to provide distance between CA activites and the WH beause of the Mueller investigation? I hate to say it but there is always a Russian involved. Always. I know, I know...
4
Silliness. Like arguing with Palestinians - "because we were here first!" - and you ask, "but, who was there before you, and before them?"
Today, the zealots would have you believe the pimply nerd had no equals, that no one had thought of these ideas already, and they weren't already in use. Yet, the article details a number of smart companies and even smarter intelligence services in the US, Russia, and other countries working on the same public research.
The first Obama campaign was lauded for its "use of the Internet"? He ostensibly received millions of dollars over the internet, with no way to track where it came from if you are to believe Mueller's allegations of Russians imitating Americans online. Recall how he wouldn't share that "expertise" with the DNC or Hillary and retains control of it today?
Weren't Democrats lauded for the way they were micro-targeting voters - they sent select neighbors to targeted voters with precise messaging developed from BigData research? Seems like they were even doing live downloads to handheld devices.
Haven't we seen the government "weaponized" by politicians - the IRS, the McCabes and Mrs. Spillers, the FISA courts - why are we to not believe that the defense and intelligence communities were way ahead of the so-called child savant, and that they have been manipulating voters with precise propaganda for years?
Because the NYT doesn't want to know.
5
Release all those convicted of marijuana related offenses and fill their places with hackers...until their dates of execution!
2
Is it still against the law to project indiscernible single frame images of popcorn at the drive-in movies? Was that prohibition surreptitiously lifted along with banking regulations?
Is it just me, or do you feel hungry for something salty every time Donald Trump speaks?
2
Welcome to the "1984" that we created for ourselves.
9
Adopt EU privacy standards and then some!
9
Just one more example of the right wing conspiracy violating our basic rights. What else is new.
3
Would that it were onlt the "right wing".
Once again the gov't steps in to protect us from ourselves. Stop being so naive about the internet
1
This is great reporting about a very important story. But I suspect the even bigger development is the companion piece that the Times is not featuring nearly as prominently, about Cambridge Analytica's ties (dating to 2014) to Russian state oil giant/crony company Lukoil, the head of CA apparently lying about those ties and Lukoil's early interest in targeting U.S. voters. If indeed, as seems increasingly likely, there was collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians for the latter to illegally influence our 2016 election, CA was at the heart of that effort.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/17/us/politics/cambridge-analytica-russi...®ion=FixedRight&pgtype=article
6
Pretty sure it's called "Big Brother" and he has arrived just slightly later than Orwell predicted. And Big Brother and the rest of his corporate-political family ARE watching YOU. We should have noticed when alternate facts started replacing truth and blond became orange.
6
I really wish that the NY Times would consider doing an in-depth report on the Mercers and their "data" company Cambridge Analytica. They have their tentacles in other places besides Facebook. For example:
Rebekah Mercer founded a NON-PROFIT "watchdog" group called Reclaim New York about four years ago. Steve Bannon was involved with the group at one point. Their headquarters is located in the offices of Cambridge Analytica in NYC. Their purpose is to influence NYS politics and sow distrust of local government. However, they market themselves as "non-partisan" and "independent" and that they "believe deeply in our mission of supporting grass root engagement." They do this by asking for donations, and by holding "training sessions" to get local "believers" to file Freedom of Information requests to assess the finances of local governments and school districts. They want to use the information to build a database of local spending and therefore influence local politics. When they do not get the information through the (Freedom of Information) request, then they file lawsuits - approximately eleven so far against local governments and school districts. If you can hold your nose long enough to visit their site, you will see a slick marketing campaign featuring young, photogenic "recruiters" selling a whole lot of spin. Very creepy and strange.
https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/local/new-york/2017/11/09...
5
Asking me whether I want to sell my data, waiting for my answer, and then acting accordingly is okay with me. Taking my data without my knowledge is not okay with me: the takers' actions need to be denounced publicly and they need to pay an enormous penalty for invading my privacy. This goes for Cambridge Analytica and all the other data dealers and data stealers.
4
i closed my FaceBook account the day after the election in 2016. I have not missed it nor have I felt left out of anything. If you choose to participate don't be disappointed
11
Time to make FB only a "social" media forum and have no, none, zero, nada, political postings allowed. This way we can be brought together socially, but let the politics rest.
Use FB for the good it was intended to do: bring people closer together. Stop allowing any political content. Period.
Eliminate clearly violent content also.
They are smart. They can develop an algorithm for this.
5
When you hide an ad in your newsfeed, Facebook asks why - not relevant, spam, see it too often, etc. I’ve asked them to add a category, “It’s political” and they won’t. Adding that reason, would give them data on how many users are against having politics in a “social” media and allow those of us who just want to connect with family, friends and companies with whom we do business to enjoy the platform. Otherwise, I’m afraid I may be another user who leaves.
1
How wonderful that now that the horses are out of the barn, it's now become fashionable for the masses to suddenly state out loud what they have been loudly deriding as Luddite survivalist paranoia.
The next time the thoughtful people warn that caution is warranted before jumping at a convenience, or a shiny new thing, is it possible that you'll listen?
4
The real experts in making use of social media to influence elections are, of course., the 13 Russians indicted by Mueller!
According to the left and this so, called,"news"paper, these few, non English speaking foreigners, sitting in a Moscow office managed, by spending only a few million dollars to completely upend an election in which the losing candidate spent over a BILLION dollars trying to win! Not only that but these miracle working Russians were able to be so careless as to spend most of these paltry few million AFTER the election! Now THAT is true genius.
If the Russians can manipulate the American electorate so hugely with such an offhand effort just think what they could do if they put their mind to it. Heck, I bet they could get our whole national law enforcement, legislative and intelligence agencies embroiled in a never ending investigation of fake scandals in order to keep our nation engaged while they work their will around the world. They might even manage to get a President impeached or bring opposing political groups to blows and think what a coup that would be.
Yes, those Russians are sure the masters of misinformation. Lets just hope they don't figure out how powerful they are and that nobody else, like the Chinese, are watching. THAT might really be bad.
We better all keep this quiet.
1
You lost me when you said that they did not speak English, which is the main requirement for the job. Putting aside my point about the English requirement please tell me how you can manipulate someone without knowing their.
1
Remind me why I left Facebook 9 years ago. Just after my kids graduated college. Way to invasive and quite frankly TMI I don't need to know.
3
77,000 votes across Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. If HRC gets those votes in those states, we have a competent president, or at least one that is not compromised by the Russians.
I will never be convinced that the actions described in this article had zero impact on those 77,000 votes and that the blame can be laid exclusively at the feet of HRC.
8
You can argue that people have mindlessly exposed their personal information, so what's the big deal, but that's not the point of the article.
The point is that the information given so cavalierly by Facebook officials was used--and will be used again--to corrupt our elections.
ELECTIONS, people--the very foundation of our democracy!
5
Waiting until everyone who has had their DNA analyzed finds out that those companies have been hacked. When the DNA police knock at their doors or target news based on DNA the uproar will be predictably deafening.
I have Facebook from early days but never populated it as I was waiting to see where it led. I set my birthday so it thinks I’m 110. I would never and still don’t understand how Facebook became a “news” source. Using the number our so called president loves to use, “99.9%” of the stuff on the beautiful internet, whatever that is, is open for all to see one way or another.
5
So this Cambridge Analytics firm does business compiling information for Trump and also does business with a Russian firm. How easy would it be for Trump to instruct CA to give our personal data to Russia, if he wanted to do that? Is there any other firm that might be servicing Trump (or any other US politico) and Russia too? It's a Brave New World, folks. How can we adjust to it and protect our country and ourselves?
3
The average American, Liberal and Conservative, do not have a clue about the depth and breath of tools used to manipulate our thoughts. All of it is designed to make you think you need something you don’t. Or, fear something you shouldn’t.
The “messaging” noise level from all sources hitting us these days is agenda based. It makes it extreemly difficult to form your own opinion in this inviroment.
Like the song says, “Everybody wants to rule the world”
12
It's time to lock 'em up!
4
This should break Facebook. This should also bring the entire weight of the US judiciary down on the Mercers, they are guilty of treason.
14
Tell me it ain't true, New York Times! Tell me it ain't true! Please! I heard a rumor that Mueller is a "hardened Democrat" disguised as a soft Republican! I am very, very old , and I fear that we are facing a new SECOND CIVIL WAR! All because of a President who behaves like Stan Laurel. C'mon, Times......say it ain't so.......please............
4
If they have this data (https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/180317130522-david-carroll-cambri... and related source data from which they derived this profile about every American, then what is different of the Trump campaign operation aided by the Mercers and Bannon from the operations conducted by the totalitarian communist or fascist regimes like Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, North Korea, ...? They profiled everyone. Trump campaign profiled every American!!
10
Mark Zuckerberg is Dr. Frankenstein. Fix your monster or it will destroy us all.
6
Even if this is true about facebook it pales in comparison to the illegal FISA surveillance of Trump and his family by Obama.
3
Again....the dems did not use material like this, right !
2
Can we please stop calling it “harvesting” which sounds benign and start calling it stealing?
5
'Can we please stop calling it “harvesting” which sounds benign and start calling it stealing?'
No data was "stolen". Anyway, a neutral word would be "collect".
2
The rule of law is the basic principle of democracy. The very idea of mutual trust is built upon the notion that we are all equal under the law. We have believed that if we play by the rules and treat each other fairly, we have a country. But the seditious "lawmakers" now in the majority have nothing but contempt for the rule of law. They don't need no stinkin laws. Laws are for the little people. Jabba the Hut slimes everybody he touches, spits on the rules, and nothing happens. Why?
The answer is money--money to fund the next election so they can keep their cushy sinecures, their plush pensions, the network of good ol' boys that have an even better job for them if they lose an election. Where are they getting the money? To whom, exactly, do they owe their good fortune? Inquiring minds want to know.
6
NewsFlash:
Only ignorant people use facebook. They get hacked 160.000 times per day.
Its a CIA/NSA front company that collects info on you. They are only supposed to spy on foreigners. They are funded by stupid taxpayers who don't bother to read their own tax regulations to see that most of them owe nothing for income tax.
1. "exempt income means any income" (US codified legal definition)
2. "income that is not considered tax exempt" (taxable income)
Source: Code of Federal Regulations
ecfr g ov (click on Simple Search)
3. "The Service is bound by the regulations."
Internal Revenue Manual, 4.10.7.2.3.4
Source: irs g ov
1
Just another Republican dirty trick proving their hypocrisy. Republicans at the top are so invested in power for powers sake that they have gone blind. Their followers, the rank and file, have bought into the culture wars so deeply they no longer have the ability to think or judge.
The result is that we now have a country where half the population is working to destroy the country they say they love. What can one do when trying to deal with people with oppositional personality disorder?
3
Data collection and customer manipulation is not new. Do a Google search for "Flashlights" and for the next twenty days you'll see "Flashlight" ads on every page you go to. Do you buy a flashlight every time you see an ad? Of course not. Nor do you vote one way or the other because you see a post on how evil the other candidate is or is not.... unless you want to be lead and are easily offended.
4
Mark Zuckerberg's ties to Putin need to be investigated by Robert Mueller.
3
Not only did Trump collude with Russia, he did it on camera, before a live audience:
“Russia, if your listening, I hope you can find the 30,000 emails.”
That Is the COLLUSION.
7
You seriously think that was a directive to Russia? You think, maybe, that was permission?
A throwaway remark made long after the Clintons tried to hide government documents and avoid FOIA and the Clnton-friendly government agencies couldn't locate the backups hiding in plain sight?
You have an interesting perspective.
1
...and
How, exactly, is this any different from what the New York Times does with the data it collects on it's users ?
Answer: It isn't.
The data is SOLD, as a part of a profit-making scheme, to organizations that may then employ the data as they see fit.
So, despite the pathetic attempt by these junior-grade authors to portray Cambridge as an evil empire, the fact is that if there is any "culprit" here, it is Mark Zuckerberg.
3
Now that Facebook is once again on the ropes, perhaps the New York Times should think twice about aiding and abetting their heist. Let me just log in to this site as a user/subscriber who pays to come here and dispense with all the linked Facebook or Google logins that make it all appear you’re all in cahoots together. For all I know any data stolen from them on me came from my use of this website because I never use Facebook otherwise. Nothing should pretend to be above anything else, it just puts them beneath them.
4
Why wouldnt they? They misuse everything else solely in order to cement their own advantages.
2
This is all ugly stuff but when are we going to get past the notion people were fooled to vote for someone and deal with the real issues why?
1
I for one have just deleted my Facebook account. Perhaps it's time more people do this?
4
Do people think that change.org doesn't do the same thing with the data they collect?
4
Just a Spoon Full of Hegemony Helps the Media Go Down...in a most delightful way!
2
Everyone who reads how Cambridge Analytica has influenced elections is urged to read Vance Packard's "The Hidden Persuaders". As for Facebook: The Company is unable to prevent the acquisition of user data, and as the pathetic claims and demands of the Company when it learns of a breach illustrate, they are completely powerless to prevent the use of the data by the likes of Cambridge Analytica.
3
45th will find out after November Election what his fate will be. IMPEACHMENT. Only thing is NANCY PELOSI need to leave her position as LEADER OF THE HOUSE. We need young leader like CONOR LAMB.
What's that I see coming down the road? A high-yield class action lawsuit against Cambridge Analytica.
2
When are the Republican's in Congress going to stop saying stuff off the record about Trump's behavior, and start showing some courage and defend the constitution regardless of the consequences.
It's been obvious for a long time that anyone with half an ounce of intelligence that Donald Trump is not right in the head, something is wrong with his psyche, he cannot be trusted with the security and treasury of our country, and it's time for Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and the rest of the Republican Congress to stop enabling this nut job in the Whitehouse.
2
So what was the role of Cambridge Analytica in helping the RNC campaigns with stolen Facebook profiles? What did the likes of Ryan and McConnell know, and when did they know it?
2
Trump voters don't use much Facebook. We live old fashioned, backward parts of America. We fear the future, we are suspicious of-technology, we despise diverse opinions. We can barely read. I wouldn't worry too much about Cambridge Analytics.
1
Hahahaha you’re pitching your story to the wrong audience. Your friends may be too old for internet but have tv for Fox, all your fellow supporters however have a computer or a cell phone. For the record For someone who doesn’t use the internet you seem to be doing just fine with posting your thoughts on here.
2
Facebook users are helping to undermine out democracy without their knowledge.. Find a better way to be in touch with your friends. Tell Zuckerberg who sells Facebook information to the highest bidder that enough is enough! Walk away now!
2
This sophisticated use of data should not come as a surprise to anyone. It's just another tool to assist in meeting your goals, which In this case was the election of anyone but Hillary Clinton. If not Ted Cruz, then Donald Trump would do even though he was totally undisciplined. What made this all the more likely to succeed in the US was the archaic quirk in our election structure that allowed a small amount of votes in just a handful of states to elect a president who finished second in the popular vote. The flaw is still there and will be again in 2020, so can you be sure your data is not now being collected and massaged?
1
For those inclined to divest from their social media accounts, - not that I have any particular one in mind - be aware that "deactivation" does not delete your account. It puts it in limbo and is VERY easily re-activated, with as simple an act as clicking on an article served from that platform, and presto, you're "re-activated". If you really want out, dig around carefully for the more comprehensive way to delete your account. It's there. Oh - and after a few weeks of withdrawal - you'll wonder why you didn't do it a long time ago.
4
By now. most Americans now realize they are the product not the consumer. With that, Federal laws should allow social media users the right to redact ALL of their personal information. FB should NOT be allowed to be stored personal information for future if personal data is prohibited.
2
We are going to see revelations of the greatest crime investigation in history. It is National Security issue, a RICO examination of massive financial theft with collusion among conspirators all over the world, and the investigation of potential treason in our government among the list of federal crimes.
It will be the greatest test of government, . . and The People, . since the Civil War.
2
What I find bothersome is the misleading explanation of what the app did, and that the user clearly did not realize that they were giving up some of the info of all their friends and families. How far did that dive go - did it go into friends of the original app user's friends?
Meanwhile we're being encouraged to sign in using Facebook on so many purchasing scenarios - movie tickets websites is a simple example. Does that information go back and forth? I guess they know I like arty movies and will now hire Alex Ross Perry to make a political ad just for me.
2
after a couple years with a disabled facebook account (I disliked the ads I received ovewhelming all other content), I decided that their concocting a first-person shooter game for CPAC, their surveying users about whether child abuse is OK - as content on facebook? - and now their collaboration with SCL/Cambridge Analytica is reason enough to end my account. They decided that I was a person breaking into facebook and would only allow me back on if I either got 3 facebook friends to vouch for me or if I sent my passport info to them. Really? I didn't need that to get the account.
2
Many venues, like one of my local TV stations, will only allow you to contribute if you have a FB or Google account. I think initially they thought it was safer than an ordinary email account. I'm not sure why the practice continues now that FB has been exposed, unless they get something out of it.
4
"Many venues, like one of my local TV stations, will only allow you to contribute if you have a FB or Google account."
What do you mean by "contribute"? Are referring to public television stations that solicit donations?
As more than 50% of US citizens get most of their news from Facebook and neighbors, a large market of pliable, susceptible, and non-enquiring minds draws the likes of Cambridge Analytica and the Mercers. Call it sophisticated harvesting. As governments, law enforcement types and public companies pool resources to fight being used as an accomplice, the resources are available for those individuals who don’t want to be caught in a wide spread net of thought control. Rely on multiple established and respected news sources to know what is going on. The op/ed page is just that – it isn’t raw news. One needs the latter to judge the former. And, if possible, look at some well respected non US publications to add another dimension to a story. A lot of folks believe that there is no cure for stupidity. There is. Vote! Hats off to PA – 18.
3
Just one more illegal maneuvers by those that Trump has connected with or has ties. This time it is also the Republican Party that is at fault. As we can see the Constitution is being trampled, privacy rules violated and our democracy is going down the toilet. At some point the people will rise up and demand better. And what about Facebook why do they allow these breeches to happen and allow their platform to be compromised and used against the foundation of democracy in our country. Perhaps they should be shut down until they can figure out some security.
1
The Mercers should be fined billions and do jail time for their treasonous corruption of the American democratic system, the lies they've promulgated and financed, and their utter hypocrisy. Mercer said, "I believe that individuals are happiest and most fulfilled when they form their own opinions, assume responsibility for their own actions, and spend the fruits of their own labor as they see fit"(2018, NYT). Meanwhile, he's data-mining, creating "fake news", and using people's private data without their knowledge to sway the campaign-with Russian help- to aid the most corrupt and incompetent administration we've ever suffered. Facebook should also pay a hefty-in the billions fine-for really not caring who they do business with while pretending to be progressive and caring. Not much different than Wells Fargo. We don't need Facebook, but we're all dependent on the internet. Bad actors should be punished like bank robbers or forgers.
7
As I’ve always said, if the service is free then you are the product.
9
I have never been a Facebook user. I have one question about Facebook:
Did the DNC use Facebook data?
5
Facebook should be held at the same level as Equifax was for the breach of credit information, which nearly bankrupted that company.
4
Not with Mick Mulvaney: Dark-hearted leprechaun of St. Paddy’s Day evil at the controls
1
As Orson Welles might have said:
"Bring me a jury and show me how the word 'leak' is applicable here."
"Willfully criminal" is more like it.
1
These efforts to capture aspects of our privacy don't stop at Cambridge analytica. Imagine how many commentors to NYT articles are IDed today. The way this administration and the tech industry is evolving, I suspect people who comment negatively about the president, the GOP, NRA or Putin will ultimately be targeted to suffer financially and restricted in the ability to travel freely if Trump gains and serves a second term.
2
We in Europe think it's strange that Facebook has no problem blocking images which even just hint att nakedness. I would imagine the same is true of texts of a sexual nature. Remember the case when Facebook blocked images of the liberated concentration camps just because there were naked bodies in the picture! However Facebook claims it is not easy to block pictures or texts containing violence or violating personal integrity etc.
In fact Facebook pretends it is "only" a carrier of information and is not in the censorship game when some sorts of censorship might change the game so much that it would lead to a loss in revenue.
Finally it all boils down to that fact that stocks and shares have no builtin morals. In fact the first commandment of capitalism is that a company must act in such a way as to maximize the value of its stocks and shares. A CEO who put morals before stock prices would not last long.
2
"... the first commandment of capitalism is that a company must act in such a way as to maximize the value of its stocks and shares."
Where did you read that?
So Russians and Americans meddled in the election. Looks like the Americans did more damage. Hope they didn't pass that intel to the Russians as well.
1
Facebook is a way to interact, however the tell in this article is that 50 million users private information was harvested without their permission. As a parent of a 28 year old, who stopped using Facebook about 3 years ago after hearing she was being tracked, and who alerted her 18 year old brother years ago, and who has never used Facebook, it has become apparent many of the youth have already switched to other ways to communicate than Facebook. Snap Chat and Instagram do not track their movements, and there are other apps as well. Facebook is a fun ditty if one is bored, but I found in my household, the youth are well aware of the tracking and have been for some time, and do not use Facebook accordingly.
3
Instagram and WhatsApp are owned by Facebook. Among Snapchat’s major investors is the Chinese company Alibaba. Social media is really not private. People need to realize they are leaving so much personal information about themselves every time they use and react on the internet. This information is a goldmine to all types of companies and political parties.
3
naivete abounds
"Snap Chat and Instagram do not track their movements"
2
Along came Facebook, a company that has been surreptitiously spying on the personal lives of "most Americans. Why is this not illegal or un-Constitutional? WE have an expectation of privacy, but lawmakers have taken money to erode our rights. Cheesey companys like Experian are not regulated or held to account for false info they spread. We live in an America that corporations have made so perverse that even the President couldn't get a security clearance on a bet.
3
Still another reason to stay off Facebook (and ALL social media for that matter). I've never joined any platform and probably don't have to explain my reasons any more....
3
Yet you post on the NYTimes comment section by joining.
1
I don't wish to sound like effete New York snob, but I've never had any desire to get on the Face Book bandwagon.
First of all, I do not like the name. Face? Book? What is that suppose to mean? Taking a picture may be worth a thousand words, but a thousand words is no book, it's an Op-Ed piece. Taking a picture of moi may be priceless to me, and those I love, but to others, not so much. I assure you strangers would find it worthless.
I have family and friends who love the FB. Good for them. They got on early. They were at the vanguard. They extolled me of FB's marvels. They could see pictures of their kids who live across the country in a flash. Others told me of connecting with old friends they had not heard from since their high school/college years. In telling me their tales, they seemed overjoyed. And I tell them that's just marvelous. But when they'd try to convince me how great it would be for me, I balk. Our kids, and grand kids, live on the West Coast. We try, while still able, to visit (we're retired) them once a year, whether they want us to or not (just joking). They send photos with cards in The Mail (that be the USPS). That works for us.
Now, as for connecting with people from half a century ago. If I have not maintained any correspondence with someone for a half century, there is probably a good reason, if I can remember it.
Being an avid reader of The Times, the notion I would use FB as a source of news is preposterous.
DD
Manhattan
7
My sentiments exactly (maybe we're siblings or friends separated by decades of silence). That degree of neediness and dependence is totally lost on me.
1
:)) - If I have not maintained any correspondence with someone for a half century, there is probably a good reason, if I can remember it. -
How true:)
1
Aside from employing non Americans to research material which was subsequently used to influence an election, what exactly has been done here which is illegal? What is a "leak"? Facebook data of all kinds is available to anyone who is a friend of the writer. If nothing private (passwords, etc) was accessed, what is illegal? Is there some way the company entered the Facebook accounts without registering as a friend? What exactly is the law about this? Please make your reporting more understandable by avoiding terms like "leak" or "meddling" which have no legal standing, to explain what you say are illegal acts. Thanks.
1
I seem to recall the Obama campaigns bragging on and on and on about their mastery and prowess when it came to exploiting online data in the furtherance of his ambitions.
I guess it's only an 'abuse' when the political opposition does the same.
6
I remember when FB first started. It was only open to people in college. Now it's a free for all zone that is used by individuals and wide spread families to keep family members and friends apprised of what is happening with them.
Am I surprised about this? Not al all. Once ads were allowed something like this would be thought of and implemented.
I cancelled my account(s) over a year ago. I don't miss it at all.
1
Those that dismiss Facebook as merely a business maximizing profit are giving it a break. Well before any electioneering I once was surveyed by FB. The question was about to what degree I agreed that FB was a force for good in the world. I resented their arrogance and gave them a 1 our of 10 ranking.
At least the question showed you how influential to societal affairs they saw themselves, even way back then. They knew what kind of power they had.
Fifty years from now, if we make it through this horrible time, the 2016 election will have an asterisk beside it in the history books: The presidential election that was stolen. I just hope there are no more stolen elections ahead of us. Regulate Facebook. Get the oligarchs' money out of elections.
5
You really think blue-collar middle American men use so much Facebook? And Obama had Google working for him. Just so we're clear, Facebook limits news feeds to left-wing sites, Foxnews doesn't come up as a source for any particular story on Google. Try it. To get any right-leaning sites you have to search for them specifically and the web is continuously trying to guide you away from them. If people voted Brexit or Trump it is because they are immune to the mind control techniques of the internet. And look at Hillary. She can't stay upright. Is it really so hard to believe people didn't vote for her?
4
Actually, more than half the voters DID vote for her.
2
I guess there's a difference between technological advancement and dangerously false and made up stuff like Fusion GPS?
Why would we not think the Russians also have this data? Even if Cambridge Analytica is completely destroyed, that data will live on to work more mischief. It has often been speculated that the Russian misinformation campaign on Facebook was well-regulated, and must have received assistance from demographics (minimally). Why do Russians seem to leave fingerprints in so many different aspects of the Trump campaign?
1
Is Rand-McNally criminally negligent in creating road maps because robbers might use them to find a bank? I think not. I think Facebook is a communication device. I think Cambridge Analytic is a criminal conspiracy. Go after the right bad guy......
2
If rand-mcnally included markers on the map showing where the single women lived, yes they are.
I've read this article three time and I still don't care. If you don't like it close your Facebook account. Nothing is Free.
3
Apparently the Trumpist line is: who cares if a far-right loon, Robert Mercer, financed the theft of personal data by a team of amoral techies that included more than one Russian guy, that Facebook booted them after they found out what they were up to, and that they're under investigation in Euope and here.
They all do it. Trump won fair and square. HIllary Is Worse. Obama's people did the same things, who cares if no, they obviously didn't. You want to take our guns, so let's take your First Amendment, so thee.
Anything, everything, throw it at the wall, something's bound to stick. Scream and yell, hop up and down, that Marine vet, lifelong Republican, and FBI head's running a crooked investigation. Deep State, Deep State, Deep State.
This is, of course, completely nuts. Because it's simple: what Cambridge Analytica did is wrong, and you know it.
4
And obviously, very successful. Their Manchurian candidate won and his Manchurian supporters will go to the barricades to support him.
Thanks for publishing the details.. While not a matter of National Security, the existence of the data is a time bomb for its inhabitants. Attack on Cambridge servers in 3...2...
I'm listening.... Mark Zuckerberg? Sheryl Sandberg? Lean in, come clean on how FB has had the biggest breach in history. Admit it. Tell us how FB is going to inform us on the extend and what to do about it.
1
What a hit piece. Congrats. I'm sure if the election turned out the way you wanted the headline would be "The Clinton Campaign's Social Media Genius".
4
Christopher looks so young, hip, but alas, immoral. A scouge on our country
1
"Christopher looks so young, hip, but alas, immoral."
If you are referring to Christopher Wylie, he agreed to be interviewed on the record by the Times, so you should be THANKING Wylie for his insights instead of mocking him.
Read the article more carefully: "... Mr. Wylie recalled in an interview.".
2
Yes, "liberal leaning" says it all.
The headline says exactly why I am not on Facebook.
3
The whole point of Facebook seems to be to put your life on display for the world so that with a single posting, you can tell everyone you know that you just had a fabulous dinner at a tiny restaurant they never heard of. So if unethical Republicans choose to take your "private" information and use it to con you into voting for their stooge, how can you really complain? You gave them that data when you put it up on your "page". The only way to keep one's own data private is to not share it at all. And even then, it might not stay private. Get a clue and stop telling us about everything you do. We don't care anyway.
2
So what's the big deal ? Marketing data analytics companies do this all the time to estimate the demand for their product. That Hillary was too lazy or not smart enough to do this just shows she deserved to lose. She did not bother because everyone (including the NYT) predicted she was going to win anyway. That's also why the FBI and DOJ did not worry about illegally supporting Hillary as they thought they would be rewarded for this behavior as opposed to being punished today.
3
Fakebook, Cambridge Analytics, the Mercers, Putin and his henchmen, the Trumps and all their advisers, enablers, consultants, appointees, employees - it's all coming together into one toxic brew.
Just waiting for Putin to spice it up with hack attacks.
6
That's quite a conspiracy you've concocted. Isn't the simpler answer that people craved a strong economy and national security?
1
Handing over your fate to one dominant colorful man who got you thinking America’s independent checks and balances institutions are the enemy sure feels good. What could go possibly go wrong?
So for all the Trump supporters who said the Russian use of Facebook was no big deal, I have to wonder how they feel now knowing that their own data may have been compromised
4
let me give soccermom the 411. EVERYONE is using your personal data.
2
It's not Facebook that is evil, it is humanity. This has been going on forever, and every conduit that could be exploited has been used by people to sucker other people into things or out of things, for money, power, profit or ideology.
Remember chain letters? Mail it to 12 more people or someone in your family will die! Mail it to 12 people so Jesus will make you rich!
Remember getting emails demanding you add your recipe or something else to the bottom of a long list ("add yours and forward to everyone you know!") Innocuous credulous nonsense but the fact is that now, your data isn't safe anywhere . Best to be sparing with what information you agree knowingly to share, and read the fine print to see what they cleverly hide behind a big "submit" or "okay" button.
When I go in a retail store to buy something for cash and they robotically say "phone number please" I say no, I don't share that. If they ask me to join whatever promotional club they have going, I say no.
Stopping the use of Facebook won't save you or your privacy but this is proof positive that you should never play a quiz game on Facebook.
I consider myself a safe internet user but recently found out that about 17 anonymous people were watching free tv on my hulu account. Solution: check all your accounts frequently. On Facebook, never blindly "share" something. If you open a link that has a privacy warning, click through, read it and UNcheck "share my friend list" or "share my email address."
6
Many of the commentors cite Trump and the Republicans bu not Hillary or the Democrats who did the same thing. This only shows their inherent bias!
6
The Clinton campaign may have had similar strategies, or they may not have. The reason that the Trump campaign is being investigated is that it's candidate is now President of the United States. That makes all the difference.
Congress, the Executive branch and the law enforcement agencies should be working full force to make sure such campaign shenanigans and interference are never repeated. Unfortunately, the executive branch is working diligently to prevent this from happening. And all the while gravely damaging the ability of the law enforcement agencies to do their job. Meanwhile, too many members of Congress are doing the same, because they've made a devil's bargain with Trump in order to advance the short sighted single-issue goals (eg-tax cuts, court justices) of their donors.
They (and we) will have to live with the awful consequences of these actions.
1
I'll bite. Where's your source for this claim?
1
The whole world is out to get you, Jay! Run for lives everyone! Run!
Every company and person that comes in contact with Trump seems to be tainted in some way. Is anyone associated with him free from corruption? How much longer can his supporters claim that he is not involved in any of the shenanigans that swirl around him and that the taint does not stain him? Everything about him reeks of unscrupulousness.
4
Whether Facebook did not realize or did is not the question anymore. It has become the easiest medium to be manipulated and disseminate false information and subtly take information by criminals. What is Zuckerberg contemplating? Try to find the posts of psychopaths or strict edition? This is not a first for Facebook. The only fool-proof plan would be to shut it down. And if not users should stop posting on Facebook. And Google, Twitter, Instagram and others should follow suit. But it ai'nt happening. These companies have to make billions and the narcissists have to have an outlet. And the Analytics of the world will use our weaknesses to merrily be doing what they are - destroy our country.
3
When when you create a medium such as Facebook it should be done with integrity. Conversely, when using a medium such as Facebook do so with skepticism. When posting and allowing hundreds of your closest “friends” access to personal information expect that some of those “friends” will use your information without regard to your privacy. Your “friend’s” “friend” may actually be your enemy. Once you put it out there, good luck getting it back!
2
I have only questions: Can Facebook's assurances be verified? Are the 270,000 downloads of Kogan's app -- thisisyourdigitallife--documented, and how? Can Facebook verify that only 50 million users' data was compromised? Where did Facebook get that number? Is this Facebook's "MySpace" moment? I'm glad I cancelled my account over a year ago.
2
There is nothing too low for Trump and his misfits. Winning is everything and integrity is nothing. Cheating is the American way. This is the Trump motto.
Lying is ok too. When will be enough to bring him down?
5
We're replacing ourselves with artificial thought...
And the machines count up to heaven twenty-four seven
But eight billion zeroes is still zero
If you got no heart.
I Want to Tell You About What I Want, Robyn Hitchcock
1
This is why I've never had a FB account.
3
Does anyone really believe that Cambridge Analytics could somehow influence the election by targeting Hillary voters with misinformation? The Democrat analysts have concluded it was the low turnout of Obama's African-American voters that cost them the election. I think "super-predators" was the most likely influence.
3
This is clear evidence of significant disruption of our electoral process and a terrorist attack on our democracy. Mr. Bannon, Mr. Nix, SCL Group and Cambridge Analytica involved staff, the Mercer family funders and all other US Oligarch/Terrorists involved in attacking our democracy should all be tried, convicted and put in the slammer for the rest of their evil lives. Hey, here's a thought - How about we retool Guantanamo Prison just for that purpose?
3
This is the ugly side of Facebook. However, I’m on this platform because it lets me contact people with similar interests in a positive way. Facebook groups include wildlife photo groups, discussions of colonial history, and information on interests like dancing. They also include out reach for small towns with weather alerts and other information that isn’t well dispersed thru TV or radio.
During the wildfires, mud slides, and dam disasters Facebook was a way of staying in touch with family and the community.
Facebook can be a tool for evil or it can do good. Users need to get better at controlling how they behave on this platform. Facebook needs to examine it’s corporate morals and goals. This includes the use of all internet sites including Google which hasn’t been caught yet.
3
facebook is like the child predator that travels into your neighborhood selling ice-cream and candy just waiting for the right moment to strike.
Remember when Trump was claiming that the election was rigged? Well, it was in favor of Donald J. Trump with the help of Facebook and Cambridge Analytica. And who were prime investors in Cambridge Analytica, the Mercers, the main financial benefactors of Donald J Trump. If that is not enough, it was Cambridge Analytica that sought out Julian Assange to catalog and disseminate the hacked DNC and John Podesta emails. Mark Zuckerburg told us that it was absurd that "fake news" influenced the outcome of the 2016 election. Not only was that a lie, but now this. Either Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram be treated as utilities, and be regulated like other media outlets, or they must be put out of business. Our democracy, and all democracies, are at stake. A few billionaires are not worth the loss of our hard earned rights to live in a free country. Those platforms must change or go away.
5
There are now direct and established ties between Alexandr Kogan, Russian grants, Russian Universities, Global Science Research, SCL Elections, and Cambridge Analytica. How many actually believe that the 50 million in unauthorized Facebook user data just stayed contained within Cambridge Analytica? Zuckerberg is complicit in his silence, sat on this information for nearly 2 years and now is trying to back away from saying Facebook had any legal obligation to protect Facebook user data. Corruption through and through.
5
Did anyone on internet in 1990's not have a little voice in back of their head saying "this will change everything and not necessarily for the good?'
4
lol. I remember as a child when we got our first private phone line. My mother, an ex-Marine phone operator, warned me that she knew firsthand that the government listened to all phone calls and that if I was not willing to shout my business out loud at the end of the street for all to hear, do NOT say it on a phone. That was about 52 years ago and I have never forgotten her advice:))
"progress is good" is the battle cry of progressives. How dare you question the facts.
I think this company should be fined and barred from being involved in any future U.S. Elections.
5
Facebook is voluntary people should not put children's pictures nor private information on it do not blame the tool for the act. I expect these things to happen when I put myself out there
Admitting you have a problem is the first step towards fixing it. Now, the cat is out of the bag; we know that social media and the data that they collect can be used to manipulate us for nefarious purposes.
Then, there is a separate problem. Someone scammed Facebook into releasing user information for an academic study, when really, it was acquired by an organization with ties to Mercer. who used it to influence voters.
Selling us stuff we don't really want is as old as America, but manipulating our elections is serious stuff. Which devices and techniques are acceptable and which are not? Manipulating the minds of voters is also as old as America, but with social media and big data, a whole new arsenal of tools is available.
Flash back to Nixon Kennedy and their infamous debate on TV. People who listened thought that Nixon won, but people who watched thought that Kennedy won. This opened up a whole new debate about the influence of TV on elections, and resulted in a series of new rules about equal time and access. Never mind that TV had already been used to manipulate us and sell us cigarettes, booze, sugar, and trinkets we didn't really want. If you mess with our elections, we sit up and take notice.
So here we are again, talking about the rules for electioneering in the age of social media and big data instead of the newfound influence of TV.
It's deja vu all over again.
According to CBSN, Facebook threaten to sue the UK Guardian to suppress the Cambridge data leak story.
CBS, "This continual pattern that we've seen with Facebook -- trying to shut the story down, finally when it has no choice, acknowledge it. They've just really got to do better," she said."
This is SOP for Facebook, and a good reason why they must be put under oath.
3
The Republican's answer to Fusion GPS. Good for them.
I’m not remembering when Fusion GPS stole personal information from 50 million people. Did I miss that?
1
i think We all should ask FB and Cambridge Analytics to provide us with our psychometrics. I will score deplorably in the fair minded/suspicious category, in spite of truly believing in the good of all people (and save these contemplations for another day). There is much to think about re: our loss of privacy over the last decade +, and as it is too too late to gain it back or regulate efficiently, it is utmost time to think about how to deal with it.
Culture War? Kingmaker? - Psychological profiling …
We can march virally with counterintelligence, for starters. #peacealliance, #lovearmy, #RJOY, #NVC, #spiritualprogressives, #indivisible, #consciouscapitalism, #innsforpeace
Don't know about other readers, but trying to read this article was difficult in that 6 times it stopped. Nothing worked. Had to close & start again providing my log in.
As much as I could read certainly showed what I always suspected about Facebook, & all other social media platforms. What are people in their mid 80s to believe or trust these days? Grateful for NY Times & Washington Post.
As an engineer, I find what Cambridge Analytica (and the Trump campaign) did as amazing. From a direct marketing perspective, it is mind-blowingly powerful in every sense. However, like any technological tool, it needs to be used ethically and morally. And here is where my positive amazement ends.
Facebook allowed (and probably still allows) its dataset to be manipulated and perversed by passively not being in the room. CA flirted with election rules regarding foreigners participating in our elections in what at best might technically and legally be OK, but certainly much against the spirit of the law.
The Trump campaign used (and probably still uses) the data not so much to bolster Mr. Trump's candidacy, but to effectively destroy everything else around it. Voter suppression was (is) a documented strategy of the Trump campaign. His is not a candidacy of building anything, but of destruction.
FB demands honesty from its subscribers; actual birthdays, names, etc. Yet, it turns our honesty against us, pursuing its customers' goals. Facebook denies it is a media company, yet it is the ultimate, personal media company. If only Facebook were as honest as what it demands from it users.
Users need to wise up and realize they are dealing with a tool designed to subvert and guide behavior. Never play FB games, don't take surveys and quizzes, don't participate in anything that reveals tidbits of the your past. It will be used against you, the ultimate blackmail tool.
8
I find it interesting that campaign rules limit the use of foreign workers, yet the federal and state governments allow and award contracts to companies that are foreign owned and allow the work to be offshored or subcontracted to foreign companies or employ mainly foreign visa workers.
My tax dollars should respect the need for Americans to be employed the same as my political contributions.
1
What frightens me most about this story is the description of the lengths politicians, and those who promote them, go to in order to be elected to office. That's an indication of the scale of the anticipated gain to be enjoyed; in power, influence and finances. Those of us who value integrity in those whose salaries we pay with our taxes should be thinking about how we can effectively reduce the 'gain' side and increase the 'service' side of political office. Fewer crooks would be attracted to politics if we did.
1
I find it strange that several months ago, maybe more, Cambridge Analytica and the connect between the Trump campaign, Kusher and the Mercers was revealed. I thought it strange that no one was alarmed or at best, reported on it, delved into the facts. Mueller's job is to me almost overwhelming.
4
If I can prove that my data was used by Cambridge Analytica without my permission, can I sue Facebook?
I was on the fence about quitting Facebook, but this has put me over the fence. I hope I can convince most of my Facebook friends to do the same.
6
"If I can prove that my data was used by Cambridge Analytica without my permission, can I sue Facebook?"
You can "sue" anyone at any time, so you are asking the wrong question. You should be asking whether you agreed to allow Facebook to use your information in the way that is being alleged in the article.
Start by reading the Facebook "Statement of Rights and Responsibilities" and "Data Policy".
1
Understanding that information put on the internet anywhere is never private is a fact and also imperative to the use of it. There will always be someone intelligent enough somewhere on the planet to hack into/obtain information via this medium because it is designed by humans for humans. How each of us decides or chooses to participate in this understanding is individual and emotionally based on our beliefs about this thing called the internet.
2
Few readers seem to face the reality that everyone has a choice as to what they believe. FB went public for obvious reasons, and when they did their shareholders demanded they make money. The Mercers found a way to influence our politics to change our way of life and they took advantage of it. It’s really quite simple, some of the public were snookered by very smart people and the last election gave us a very dangerous administration, just what the Mercer’s wanted.
2
Mailing lists have been sold for a hundred years.
This is just a refinement of the mailing list.
4
Time for a new mantra: "Nothing about me without me." I AM my data. No one can buy me or sell me or use me without my permission.
3
But you are not a Facebook customer: you pay nothing for Facebook.
You are the product.
1
All's I know from someone who used to work in the FBI is that FB and other social media sites makes their job a whole lot easier.
Who uses FB anymore?
Old people. Who vote.
2
I don’t understand why we are acting so shocked. Having worked in direct marketing for over 30 years, what Cambridge Analytica provided was not an anomaly, it’s the norm.
Information on our Facebook and Twitter usage, our friends, our followers, likes, etc. are actively promoted and provided to anyone who knows how to write code. Here is a “how to” document on the Twitter website. https://developer.twitter.com/en/docs/accounts-and-users/follow-search-g...
The larger issue we need to address is our willingness to surrender our privacy to every social media site.
6
Semi-recent history suggests that whether or not "laws were broken" depends highly on whether the actions taken were those of the opposition, or not.
1
Lest we not forget; "Wasn't Mr. Jered Kushner the Informational technical director for the Trump campaign? That makes him the responsible person for the conspiracy, no longer collusion, which pinpointed, during the election the exact States to target with the Russians, Treasonous behavior against the United States.
2
That Cambridge Analytica was key for the success of the targeted messaging of the Trump campaign was obvious from the beginning. The methods used are certainly brilliant - but seemed to be immediately used for some sinister plot by a weird alliance of wealth (....the Mercer family...) and radical nationalists (Breitbart/Banno/Trump). The scary part is that literally billions are willing to deflegate their private Information to such conglomerates of folks with questionable intentions - without evening hesitating for a second. I think it is time to radically change the rules in “the net” regarding the ownership of personal information and rethink the business models of companies like Facebook - which are exploiting private information and sell them to the highest bidder.
2
so big data meets rich guy. who didn't expect trouble?
One take-away from the investigation of the Trump administration will be exposure of the huge amoral void of international business dealings.
Can we expect Congress to impose stricter ethics regulations as standard business practices? Probably not.
1
It is important to remember that The Donald said during the campaign that he had no consultants etc.; it was his brilliance that made his campaign so strong. Like most of The Donald's braggadocio balderdash, it was not true. Instead there were the Mercers funding Cambridge Analytica which had improperly stolen substantial personal information from Facebook to develop a database. If prosecutors are clever, and they are, they will use the acts of Cambridge Analytica to bring criminal charges against the company and its officers, maybe even the Mercers.
2
When signing up for a free service like Facebook, the user is not the consumer. The user is the product, and must understand what that might mean - foremost an utter lack of privacy.
5
Exactly. I heard a great interview with a cyber security expert who made that same point.
1
Rarely use Facebook. Don't understand a person's desire to spread their most intimate details and those of their families, including their children, all over the internet. What's more, these users bring advertising to Facebook but receive no monetary gain from their presence. Facebook takes it all. So what's the point?
I understand that the use of Facebook among young people, kids and teenagers, is declining. Perhaps FB is dying. who knows.
3
Is it possible for those 50 million Face Book user to file a class action law suit against Face Book? That would certainly get their attention.
3
As folks declare Facebook evil, it’s hard not to think back to TV tipping the scales towards a good-looking Kennedy over Nixon. People at the time said that TV did a disservice to politics by manipulating people into thinking the more telegenic person had better ideas. It was a scandal to some, and opinions on who won the debate tested heavily on the medium they consumed it through.
Whether it’s print, radio, TV, the first wave of the internet, or its current wave, political and economic fortunes are up for grabs as folks try to understand the new mediums. These platforms bring utility to users and advertisers, and they’re not going anywhere. On the contrary, get ready for these platform providers to own your living room by delivering you less expensive TV via targeted advertising.
1
This is an admission by Republican (conservatives) that they are a minority party and must resort to distortion to obtain votes. I hope this truly wakes up the majority as to what we are dealing with, liberals are open minded people and for the most part rule followers. Conservatives have no problem breaking societal norms or laws for that matter to obtain their ends. It is time for the sleeping giant to wake up and vote in mass and remove all Republican since they refuse to acknowledge or divulge the wrong doing that has infected their party.
2
Our own citizens are our enemies. Putin must be dancing with glee. Put these criminals away, where they can't hurt anyone else. Including the Mercers and Zuckerberg. Worst people on earth.
2
Cambridge Analytica of Robert Mercer, Rebekkah Mercer and Stephen Bannon is nothing but a criminal enterprise whose sole purpose is to manipulate voters' minds and grab the political power. Cambridge Analytica need be destroyed.
3
Does anyone actually think that these or similar methods are not already in use by numerous private entities as well as other political organizations and campaigns? The only reason that we know about their use by the Trump campaign is the incredibly high level of scrutiny to which the campaign has been subjected. It is legitimate for the public to be concerned about broad issues of privacy and manipulation, but to focus all of that concern on Donald Trump seems politically motivated.
9
It isn’t.
However, it is impossible not to focus on Donald trump, he is busy every day trying to get everyone to constantly focus on him, holding parades, hanging up on foreign diplomats, flip flopping, and by attacking everything that many Americans care about. Or haven’t you noticed?
Your suggestion is ridiculous, that we should ignore what we find because of some idea of the motivations. We have to take care of whatever comes up.
1
Robert,
Would you feel the same way if the politician involved was named Hillary or Obama? You do remember Benghazi and the birth certificate fiascos, right? Welcome to politics as usual, 21st century style!
Disclosure: I do not now nor have I ever had a Facebook account. I wondered if the DNC and RNC used. I just asked a simple question about Facebook: Did the DNC use Facebook?
Decided to check for myself: used Google. The answer is yes: both the Clinton and Trump campaigns used Facebook.
I recalled something about Congressional hearings about Russian ads, and found this:
"Russian information troll farm the Internet Research Agency spent just 0.05 percent as much on Facebook ads as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump’s campaigns combined in the run-up to the 2016 U.S. presidential election, yet still reached a massive audience. While there might have been other Russian disinformation groups, the IRA spent $46,000 on pre-election day Facebook ads compared to $81 million spent by Clinton and Trump together, discluding political action committees who could have spent even more than that on the campaigns’ behalf.
"Facebook general counsel Colin Stretch revealed these figures today during the Senate Intelligence Committee’s hearing with Facebook, Twitter and Google about Russian election interference." https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/01/russian-facebook-ad-spend/
So $81 million spent on FB between the Clinton and Trump campaigns, and 5/10ths of 1% spent by the Russians?
3
I have always felt that "Facebook" and the people who use it are blithely handing over family pictures and other personal information to data brokers, and anyone else (in this case the Trump Campaign) who pay to use it.
Evey item of information people post on Facebook is sold or harvested by other commercial entities.
I have never had a Facebook account, nor on any other social media format.
8
Hi skier 6 in Vermont: Like you, I have never had a Facebook account nor any other social media format.
But I have become curious: I wondered if both the Trump and Clinton campaigns used Facebook.........and the answer is yes. That came out in Senate hearings.
Facebook users are not the customers: they are the product.
1
One headline says "misused" and the other says "exploited".
Considering the terms of service for many, if not most, online services, I think the correct term is "exploited". The data was gathered, sold, sliced and diced to produce some analysis. If the analysis was wrong; if the results did not truly represent the source data then you could use the term "misused", in my opinion.
Here is a simple example: Misused is when an offer for mortgage credit is sent to my ex-husband at my address. Exploited is when that offer is made to the current property owner (me).
Facebook users were exploited, no doubt.
6
Vultures have MORE MORALS
10
So now that liberals have established that Facebook is a "weapon of war", capable of "mass influence", and destroying "our democracy", should we abolish the 1st amendment and ban it?
Enough is Enough !!
3
One thing does not lead to another. Our first amendment stays. Facebook will stay. Maybe there will be some consequences and these companies will have to pay in some serious way for their breaches of trust to MILLIONS of people.
Or do you prefer everyone stays out of it so the Mercer’s and their ill minded buddies take over more and more ground?
Obviously the founding fathers had no idea that something like facebook would come along and pose such a risk to the Union.
No campaign had ever invested so heavily in technology and analytics, and no campaign had ever had such stated ambitions.
Early in (the campaign) some operatives visited Facebook, where executives were encouraging them to spend some of the campaign’s advertising money with the company. We started saying, ‘Okay, that’s nice if we just advertise. But what if we could build a piece of software that tracked all this and allowed you to match your friends on Facebook with our lists.
The campaign also sought advice from what the New York Times later called a “dream team” of academics who described themselves as a “consortium of behavioral scientists.” The group included political scientists, psychologists and behavioral economists. The campaign was operating well outside the traditional network of political consultants.
The above was first printed in the story “How the Obama campaign won the race for voter data”, By Dan Balz July 28, 2013, The Washington Post
8
That barn door has been open a long, long time.
1
This may be a tricky point for you, but software that matches lists of names isn't the same as software that swipes your personal info off your Facebook page without telling you.
Did they steal data from millions of people?
There is the stench of corruption, exploitation, manipulation, evil, greed, and/or just plain unethical behavior with everything Trump touches.
Why is this man still in office???
6
So FB was (and I'm sure still is) being mined for personal data, used and distributed illegally by the R... oh no, that wasn't a Russian operation?
2
Mark Zuckerberg,
Please provide Special Council Mueller EVERYTHING!
Please inform and educate the American People how Cambridge Analytica illegally stole information and used it to create greater dissent into our society and help the Trump campaign win the 2016 election with Russia’s support!
As everyone saw following Parkland when Citizens in Broward County we’re confronted with unimpeachable evidence that their own Facebook pages in support of Trump were intruded by Russian bots, trolls and bad actors their reply was ‘fake news’. Trump has take advantage of ignorance and propaganda perpetuated by the same Russian bad actors and FOX NEWS. Please step up for Democratic values and stop this corruption from anther Oligarch named Trump.
4
So the Mercers & Trump believe the end justifies the means, even if it’s illegal.
Fascists don’t care about laws, but we must make them pay.
4
A big takeaway, apart from the illegalities of data collection and employing foreigners on the part of the #Trump campaign, is how #Facebook is entirely incapable of policing itself or being transparent w/ the public
9
Real message of this article
Republican use of data mining= shadowy, evil, stealing
Obama use of data mining= smart, innovative, winning
Oh, and Facebook is very, very evil just in case you missed the previous memo!
What is really interesting is how the Times has managed to "educate" it's readership (and by this I mean dumb down) to the point where they can be so blatant in their propaganda and yet it still seems to work. Scary times we live in.
9
Republican, Trumpian, conservative, evangelical, right-wing, billionaire lies.
Remember who the liars are: the fake patriots, fake religious. Remember who the traitors, in bed with the Russians are.
And, most importantly, remember who we are: good and decent people, here to help one another, here to be humble and thankful and compassionate. Democrats must stand for something honorable and selfless. The common good, the more perfect Union is achievable.
We must turn away from the craving for wealth, power, property. Billionaires are not good for democracies. Equality and shared commitment and burden is what makes good societies. Love for our neighbor and the stranger is our greatest goal.
Quit electing billionaires that lie ,cheat, steal, bully, of vainglory and serial-adultery, of avoiding war but then calling POW's 'not my kind of heroes', of not even paying the taxes that actually pay for the military (but then telling them how much he admires them). This heinous liar-in-chief, in love with Putin and his billions, loves nothing else. He is our worst impulses; and now he is our President. Thanks to Republicans. Keep saying that sordid truth.
5
50 million what. I have 4 fake Facebook accounts. One of them has 2000 followers, many of them are bots. This is much ado about nothing. You put too much face in these social media engines. You must realize that Conservatives are not so stupid to be moved by Social Media hacks.
2
There were plenty of intelligent Nazis. The point is the willingness of the Conservatives to believe the lies that fit their agenda of hating the opponent. Facebook is the medium that was used giving permission to hate Hillary and vote for Trump. The software that was developed, used the FB profiles to pinpoint the audience that was primed and ready to believe literally anything they were fed that fit their predetermined beliefs and hatred.
Stupid questions:
Did the Russians target their ads to the same demographics the Trump campaign did?
How much does the timing of the Russian ad buys coincide with Trump ad buys?
Are there links between Kogan and Russian intelligence or oligarchs?
Does Cambridge Analytica get to legally keep its meta data based on the data it is required to delete?
How many votes does $6M buy?
4
Republicans used to refer to people like these as “outside agitators”. I guess they are on the inside now.
7
Kind of hard to imagine, right wingers believing in science.
5
So, I voted for Trump because these goons did a psyop on me? No, I voted for Trump because the alternative was unthinkable. Now the corruption that has been going on in our government for decades is being brought out in the open and I think this whole Cambridge Analytica is a psyop. I don't buy it for a minute. I smell the Deep State here.
5
That is the trick...they know not only who we are but also how to influence us - without us realizing they do. In your case they might have supplied you with the right amount of information - fake or not - about Hilliary Clinton to amplify your already existing negative opinion about her. That seems to be really easy as we are all - more or less - believe in information coming from specific sources. Yes - this is scary and Cambridge Analytica was instrumental for the BREXIT vote...an example how irrational decisions can be generated with their methods. We are all vulnerable for manipulation - it just requires some folks without moral limits to actually do it. And that is where opinions deviate: Mr.Kushner and Mr.Bannon coordinated these “manipulations” and I would attest both of them that they are exactly the characters that are needed to launch these kinds of manipulative technologies into elections!
3
You really need to get off of that Kool-Aid, Kolleen. There are really only two reasons why anyone voted for Trump. The most wide-spread reason is that they are gullible, and have absorbed a catechism of falsehoods which they are psychologically incapable of even questioning. Those Trump voters who do not fall into this category apparently suffer from the delusion that if he is in power, somehow they, too, can get away with everything he has gotten away with all his life.
2
Of course you do. You have to.
And all this time I thought it was the Russians. Is it just me or is the tone of this article such that it assumes the left would never use such tactics?
4
Just look at who we got stuck with. A lying president who uses crooked tools to gain the advantage. But wait...isn’t that the way most business is practiced today?
3
"Crooked tools" are commonplace these days. You wouldn't see much difference between either campaigns.
1
Along with the NYTimes back at the end of 2016, there was another important article regarding Cambridge in Jan. 2017. Did anyone read The Data That Turned the Wold Upside Down?
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/mg9vvn/how-our-likes-helped-t...
Why do both Democrats and Republicans allow companies to continue to spy on and trick ameriicans into giving them this information which is then used against them ? Easy answer Money and power..... Lots and Lots of Money...
and now this data is being used as a weapon against us.
Americans must demand that our politicans craft laws to stop this as it is distroying our very democracy.
Stop all companies from gathering and selling any and all of our private information be it television viewing habits, phone calls, internet searches or tracking our purchasing habits through our credit cards. Allow Americans to be free to live without fear of every action we take being used against us.
3
this article is horrifying. So glad I never used Facebook. Garbage. Mercer is someone who had all the qualities of an anti-christ. Absolute power that drives evil into places where people find comfort. Talk about 1984, We and Clockwork Orange having a three-day to produce the ultimate offspring. Scary times folks. Can't say we weren't warned.
8
It's nothing new, micro targeting based on behavior. From the days of printer political flyers written specifically to hand out to certain church goers leaving a service, with the message changed when handing them out after Synagogue. The Obama campaign raised money targeting single women specifically with a $3.00 lottery for the chance to dine with Sarah Jessica Parker. They obviously used data mining to first identify who single women admired, and then who were the single women amongst us.
3
By not using Facebook I missed the $3 chance to have lunch with Sarah Jessica Parker?
Shame.
1
If you think 2016 was a sham of an election, wait until you see 2020! What are you going to do about it? Knit more hats?
#calexit
4
Facebook was exploited by Russia, 140 million American voters, and by Trump, 50 million. It must be regulated. Far worse: Trump and his sycophants and many in the press continue to say that “no votes were changed” as a result. How stupid. Suggesting that targeted ads do not work is insulting and should be ridiculed. FB makes most of it’s money from ads, because they sell products and causes.
Trump and FB and Russia? Who copied who? Did FB help, aside from being vulnerable?
Trump buddy Robert Mercer put $15 million into Cambridge and $22 million into Trump Campaign. Does Mercer have Russian vulnerabilities?
4
Now in hearings, the Republican Congress is going to blame Facebook to get Bannon and Trump off the hook. What a god awful government we have elected! Time to clean house in November!
1
The photo of the Mercers was very strange....first they look like husband & wife not father & daughter and at first glance I thought there was something wrong with them....their foreheads are so large, I thought they shared some sort of head deformity....then I realized it was just a picture of the Mercers. They still strike me as strange looking and their activities are extremely Un-American and also Anti-American. This is a prime example of why we need to remove big money from our elections. FaceBook was created for campus hookups, Mr Zuckerburg had no great vision or altruistic motivation at all...and look what damage his dating hook up idea has done to our country and the world.....he has no plan and they have no way to control this nightmare they created. No vision, little imagination, and motivated by a desire just to make some $. This is the problem combined w/ a total lack of responsibility for their "creation"...and also for their accepting money from outside sources..."advertising" and "research"? We have all been violated and the intrusion continues and increases. Not OK.
3
Just permanently deleted my useless and mostly idle FB account. I encourage everyone do the same. Already feel better. Note: you can download an archive copy of your FB account before deleting: https://www.facebook.com/dyi?x=AdmZQJqURGrX5uG9
1
I just so happened to delete my Facebook account this past week. This article makes me even happier I did so.
"Mr. Grewal, the Facebook deputy general counsel, said in a statement that both Dr. Kogan and “SCL Group and Cambridge Analytica certified to us that they destroyed the data in question.”
Whew! Thanks for resolving that Facebook. Hands clean now. They destroyed the data by sending it out of Trump Tower servers to a sanctioned bank in Russia. Hypothetically of course.
2
The Puppet masters at work to destroy civilization as we know it.
Hang on...I’m gonna *lean in* so I can more closely scrutinize your data and manipulate you. Make America 1996 again.
1
Yet the only surprising results in the 2016 presidential race were in the rust belt states where Trump physically went, and Hillary did not physically go. Face it TRUMP WON and your candidate lost, New York Times. Now move on.
2
That could be questioned: if it turns out that the Trump campaign operated not only with stolen emails but also stolen data to influence the voters...then the question will come up if the election was actually legal. Beyond that - doesn’t it worry you that the Trump campaign was using this kind of manipulation? How can you trust this administration with anything then?
Brittanis waives the rules.
1
When Trump graduated Penn State did they have class 101 on mafia the techniques on how to bully and instlll fear and always get your way. He passed that obviously . His lawyers are no better the way they are threatening Stormy Daniels. I wish we can remove mafia lawyers from the White House grounds and let these bad leaders go to jail when they are this corrupt like Trump. Mr Mueller should pardon Stormy Daniels subpoena her as a witness. Then my friends if the GOP still love after her testifying against him they aren't christian people like they claim to support that sleaze.
He went to the University of Pennsylvania. Please don't blame this on the Lions! We Are!
What they really don't want you to know is that the Facebook data is worthless. It all fake data based on bots and fake user posts. Hardly any actual data of value can come from cat picture posts.
1
This is about Cambridge Analytica and the Mercers. Last time I checked, Trump had tweeted about the Mueller investigation six times in 20 hours. Why is he so freaked out?
9
And still, at this very moment, ignoramus's are entering their personal info into facebook. Incredible.
3
It's not FB alone. Instagram, Twitter and a myriad of others. Some have them all going on and then some.
Gutenberg, Tyndale, Newton, Darwin, Einstein, Shockley..next up? Not one of these could have predicted the outcome of their inventions or ideas...
1
I am be old fashion and conservative in many of my ways and beliefs, but I have company with my view and attitude towards Facebook. There is a comforting solace in knowing that I am not alone. And believe it or not, I know a lot of folks who STILL enjoy a phone call vs. a text as well as receiving a letter or card in the mail with REAL photos they can hold and frame vs. an instant electronic message for others to view, with no regard of how I feel about it.
Communicating in the slow lane may be passé, but at least I'm in control of the traffic and the speed of my information.
12
Trump did it.
So sad,!
2
Hillary did it as well. It may be politics t its worst, but, it was used by both sides. Your criticism of only Trump shows your bias!
2
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Republicans hackers are now surreptitiously surpassing dissenting voices on social media platforms. Is the latest form pf voter suppression.
3
Facebook didn't make Hillary not visit Wisconsin or pass out on the streets of Manhattan and have to be dragged into her waiting motorcade, toes first. And then there was the cough...
1
The Mercers, Adelson, the Trumps, and now Zuckerberg and Sandberg with their Facebook, worshipers of Mammon, a species that takes zero responsibility for the damage their obsessive pursuit causes for humanity.
5
Yet another Trump connection to Russia, as detailed in a parallel article.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/17/us/politics/cambridge-analytica-russi...®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
Mueller needs to nail Trump as soon as possible.
The White House is not simply a chaos ooperation, itis now verging on a dictatorial operation.
Trump is going to try to become a dictator for life. That is my opinion and surmise.
6
Bottom line: Are any of these people vulnerable to criminal prosecution? Fraud? Theft? Election law violations?
5
Bottom line: so many more dots that they make a line between Trump and election fraud.
Trump himself unwittingly admitted obstruction of justice by firing Comey on national TV.
Once Mueller gets the Trump business and financial records... and maybe looks at Trump's tax returns, then it's impeachment time.
Well I'm surprised Mr. Mueller has not yet subpoena Mercer and others.
5
i think a 50 million person class action suit against ca, fb, and possibly mit is in order.
3
Actually quite simple: Facebook & Fox produced: Fake News & a Fake President.
6
the root of the problem is trump.
5
Facebook is disputing NYT's claims that this was a 'data leak' and that the data was used without consent. Here is their statement from their blog page-
"The claim that this is a data breach is completely false. Aleksandr Kogan requested and gained access to information from users who chose to sign up to his app, and everyone involved gave their consent. People knowingly provided their information, no systems were infiltrated, and no passwords or sensitive pieces of information were stolen or hacked."
Should we expect a correction at the bottom of page A-18 tomorrow, like they did today after disparaging Gina Haspel in a previous report?
5
This is another attempt by the NYT to divert attention from the real reason(s) lost the election. As an earlier commenter wrote: " the sad truth is HC lost because she did not receive the rust belt 70 electoral votes she assumed she had though she did not campaign there and DT did."
5
Sounds pretty much like Madison Avenue, with even better data than Don Drever.
1
Don Draper
You didn't mention in this article that Jared Kushner assumed control of all trump campaign digital using Facebook digital targeting and brought in Cambridge Analytica to do this work. Steven Bannon was Vice President of Cambridge Analytica before he joined trump campaign. Robert Mercer was major financial backer and Rebekah Mercer was/is on the board.
They are all deep into the devious research obtained by Cambridge Analytica and happily used illegally obtained facebook user profiles. Another example of dirty dealings financed by big conservative money.
Mr. Mueller has apparently asked for Cambridge Analytica emails and details and potentially the trail leads to Jared Kushner and the Mercers - indicts them in illegal practices and opens up voters eyes to how they have been used and played psychologically for fools.
Cancel your facebook accounts. Facebook doesn't care about your privacy. It only cares how to use your own information to sell it for money.
Forget the sweet thought that you are just chatting with friends. Yes, friends and many dark firms are taking your data and selling it.
Limit you use of the other forms of social media.
Take back your personal privacy.
Think about this.
10
A great beta test before Zuck runs for president.
1
Sure Facebook is evil, but at least you can choose not to use it. The state is the ultimate evil.
Even if somehow you could place decent people into government to try and clean out all the filth, there would be more
filth to ooze into its place.
As long as people continue to believe that
forcing others to pay for what they want is the way to organize society (-taxation-)... , people who love theft, fraud, and starting violence, will continue to seek out the opportunities that this delusion creates.
Trying to place decent people at the head of a crime syndicate
ultimately will fail. Stop supporting crime! Stop paying taxes! Live by voluntary exchange.
1
Is this not a bit of hypocrisy by the NYT suddenly being amazed and upset about how Facebook influenced the behavior of American voters?
Quite a while ago the NYT invited readers to be able to post comments without "initial moderation based on a history of quality comments".
I was tickled to get such an invitation, only to find out that one had to register with the NYT through ones Facebook account, a "social" medium that I frankly found quite idiotic and did not use.
And now, all of a sudden, after the whistle blower Christopher While came forward, Facebook is the boogey man being easily hacked and used for nefarious reasons.
6
Oh, and it’s just pure coincidence that Brad Parscale, Trump’s political novice digital media strategist from 2016 was chosen as his campaign manager for 2020?!
5
The Saturday before Trump's election, I made a prediction printed right here in the NYT commentary. 308 votes for Trump. I was wrong. I overestimated the ability of the Maine Yankees to rid themselves of their blind reverence for former President Obama. Trump received 306. And my return predictions stayed about 15 minutes ahead of CNN's John King, the best in the business. The entire echo chamber of this commentary board thought I was nuts. Ha!
How wrong you were, and with that said, I'll venture a new prediction for the upcoming elections this year. All the hyped-up news and editorial slugs at Donald Trump will bring with them an election day turnout that will dwarf the 2016 turnout for Trump. Supporters are in the cities as much as the rural counties, and this year they will vote! There are still tens of millions of still-silent Americans who will vote for the first time this November to endorse the actions of a president you detest so much it almost defies description.
Personally, I am overjoyed that Donald Trump is firing top officials throughout the USG. As one who has known Washington from he inside out from the Kennedy years to the present, I waded through that swamp and learned to smell the rat fiction. What is now brewing with the "resist-now" Clintonian camp-strategists makes any countenance of the Haldeman/Erlichmann/Dean times seem, well, irrelevant. New times are here.
Trump is light years ahead of you. "You're fired" is just the beginning. Praise God for it.
1
Times: "The breach allowed the company to exploit the private social media activity ..."
There was no "breach", as Facebook clearly states:
"Update on March 17, 2018, 9:50 AM: The claim that this is a data breach is completely false. Aleksandr Kogan requested and gained access to information from users who chose to sign up to his app, and everyone involved gave their consent. People knowingly provided their information, no systems were infiltrated, and no passwords or sensitive pieces of information were stolen or hacked."
2018-03-18 04:09:01 UTC
3
Cambridge Analytica nor the Russians made Hillary Clinton set up a private server to store classified information, made AG Lynch meet in private with the husband of the subject of an FBI criminal investigation, nor caused James Comey to hold vacillating press conferences right up to one week prior to the election.
1
"Psychographing" -- Add that to:
(1) voter suppression
(2) gerrymandering
(3) delegitimizing and demonizing all opposition
(4) religious posturing
(5) faux-patriotism
(6) social-issue distractions (e.g., "the flag")
(7) delegitimizing and demonizing the press (e.g., the "failing NY Times")
(8) tacit acceptance (and possible cultivation) of foreign social media hacking and election interference ("Russia, I hope you're listening")
(9) delegitimizing education ("colleges are indoctrination mills" - R. Santorum) and vote-shaping education (Betsy DeVos)
(10) assaulting the nature of truth itself
as the various means whereby the Republican Party pursues votes. Not good public policies, not representative governance, just sheer manipulation of a gullible public.
6
I'm not sure just what these people were trying to do -- if it was to benefit Trump, it failed miserably with me, because everything that arose during the election only convinced me to vote for Democrats only.
If there was any scamming, they only scammed the nit-wits who paid for the stuff.
As it is, there is not a republican on the face of the earth who I would vote for now.
1
"The Hidden Persuaders" 21st Century
2
First of all, there is no such thing as a free lunch. If you are on the internet, using Google, Facebook, Twitter, you name it, everything you type in is essentially in the public domain, if not de jure (legally) then de facto (in fact).
Second, if you write e-mails, unlike the U.S. Mail where stealing a letter is a Federal crime, your e-mails are easily hacked and stolen and therefore, again, in the public domain.
Finally, all that said, as some others have said on this comment thread, I don't care about analytics, or Russians, or Fox News, the voters elected Trump and they are to blame, period, full stop. If they believe stories about Hillary and pizza parlors, or even aliens from Mars, they are to blame for their own stupidity. No one had a gun to their head. And for those that voted for Trump as a so-called "lesser of two evils" or they just "didn't like" Hillary, then they too must take full responsibility for their votes.
In other words, I don't blame the Russians, the computer nerds, or anyone other than those who pulled the lever for Trump. Their hands are dirty...the end.
1
Yes, we have our modern plagues, and “digititis” is one of them.
A Physician MD
2
Real friends know how to reach me; starting today, no more posts, sharing or following.
2
—The group experimented abroad, includin in the Caribbean and Africa, where privacy ruleswere lax or nonexistent and politicians employing SCL were happyto provide government-held data, former employees said.— why is this just a sidenote in this article?
Americans spend a lot of time worrying about their government spying on them.
Then they log on to Facebook.
5
NYT -- Here's an idea. As a responsible news source, get rid of your own FB page. Be the brave ones who take the first step and tell the world you don't need it.
No? Ok, new question. Since when and why did everyone allow FB to become the center of everything? Nothing should have that much power.
4
Who cares? Facebook is a waste of time, use it at your own peril. And the Dems misused the false Steele dossier to launch their anti-Trump program. Both parties use dirty politics, and the NYTs should report equally on this rather than only calling out the GOP.
2
Good grief- do you all think I’m a dodo that believes everything on FB and everything written or on TV? Do you not think that maybe I look,for example, at a Trump rally and form my own opinion? Or look at Senate hearings and catch all the bipartisian mechanics going on? I’m in the data bank, but my mind isn’t theirs- is yours?
1
Nothing could possibly surprise any of us anymore. Absolutely nothing.
If in the unlikely event that anyone should ever be convicted in these crimes against the United States, and interfering with democracy there should be a unique punishment. They should be placed on a U.S. ship and never be allowed to set foot on American soil anywhere.
So Cambridge got their hands only on data of people who downloaded their app? How many can that be?
1
Facebook does not care about privacy, or the impact of their greed on the USA.
Mercers should be prosecuted for elections violations.
1
This is the type of stuff we need to protect ourselves from. Watch this hand while I distract you with the second amendment and I’ll pick your picket with my other hand.
At the least, Facebook should acknowledge that this NYTs story is accurate and then they should apologize for allowing this attack on democracy here and abroad to happen on their " watch".
2
How stupid would a person need to be in order to have participated in the survey that started this? Oh, that's right, they're fishing for Trumpers. Jackpot.
It was always clear to me that Facebook is a blight. I've never opened an account and never will. I know what big data really is, and how it works. Likewise predictive analytics, AI and machine learning. It is a slippery slope even for highly ethical practitioners.
Privacy is over. The toothpaste is out of the tube. If you have a smart phone, you're laying a mile-wide data trail, and that's best-case. But it would still make a difference if the notion of privacy could at least regain some cultural traction. The EU's General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, stresses the "right to be forgotten". We should take a page from their book. The fourth amendment should be as important to smart people as the second amendment is to, uh, those people.
What a world we live in now,
If this happened under our former Presidents watch Mitch and Ryan would be be screaming treason. What American would vote these charlatans?
Great County, Can't wait to leave it
1
This is a real Orwellian story.
Let me ask a simple question: SCL (the parent company to Cambridge Analytica) is, as I understand it, part of the British military industrial complex, so how is this attack on US elections happening? It would seem that there are all sorts of illegality here, and, as other articles in the Guardian made clear, no small amount of Russian influence.
What is going on?!
Why would anyone go on Facebook anyway,if you ha v e an account delete it.
2
It is silly to say FB is evil. FB is just another invention that is misused before regulations are in place to prevent the misuse.
I am struck by all these criticisms of Facebook, both for providing a means to collect sensitive personal data and then for failing to provide security to prevent its fraudulent transmission to outside actors. That criticism is justified. But Facebook and social media generally are technologies we now have, and, as one commenter wrote, "Put that genie back into the bottle."
Fewer critical comments are directed towards the fraudulent theft and malicious weaponization of Facebook data by the likes of Cambridge Analytica, and the malevolent money-bag culture warriors and quasi-fascist ideologues behind that effort: the Mercers and the likes of Steve Bannon.
Facebook deserves censure. The Mercers, Steve Bannon, Alexander Nix, Aleksandr Kogan--always a Russian connection these things somewhere--not to mention the odious Julian Assange lurking in the background somewhere: these are the much greater culprits.
Facebook has carelessly left the components of a political bomb lying around unguarded. Subversive "culture warriors" with fascistic tendencies, assisted by amoral "techies," assembled the bomb, and hurled it at the heart of American democracy.
1
Too many Americans, have come to the point where they have a total disregard for the Rule of Law, Morals, Ethics, or even knowing right from wrong...!
It's alarming. Who raised these people? How did they get this way? Where they created or born?
It is the Breakdown of Society
I hate Facebook. I quit them a long time ago. Everyone in the world should, too. Facebook should be renamed "Openbook."
If nothing else, no one should "like" or "dislike" something they see or read on Facebook. It's all recorded and you, the user, are being profiled and who you are is being sold to the highest bidder.
Companies like Cambridge Analytica are just the tip of the iceberg. NOTHING about yourself is private anymore unless you actively try to protect who you are.
The law is not keeping up with technology, mostly because the lawmakers don't understand the degree of the danger involved.
1
I’m glad I never signed into FB.
1
When leftist media is controlling the words a common man read its time right wing should know how to give correct information to public and make them agree .
Lies by left has made now people confused about themselves and future .
They aren't the first one's to do it.
Imagine: trump as Big Brother. It's not hard.
1
Great investigative journalism. My prediction: Meuller will find that the Facebook/Cambridge Analytics “raw data” and profiles were surreptitious shared by Bannon and the Trump campaign with the Russian (state sponsored) trolls that engaged in the fake news, misinformation campaign to influence the election in Trump’s favour. This will be the final piece of evidence of collusion that will lead to an indictable offence
1
For me it is as many other posts have said here... FB is just a tool. It collects information based on what you give it. You give it knowingly when completing their registration and each time you comment and when you post something or access something posted and even when someone posts something and you are in their circle. If you want privacy... don’t use it. We shop at a major chain food store... we then get “special” coupons that are directly targeted to our shopping habits. Mail order companies have been selling our mailing addresses for decades. I know people who do not have email, do not use the internet, have a flip phone, not a smart phone, and they do not get targeted. And, those who believe only the Trump campaign did this type of activity are truly naive.
Last fall, less than 24 hours after I posted a NYT article on links between Robert Mercer, Steve Bannon and Donald Trump to my facebook page, I was called by Cambridge Analytica for a "survey". It was disturbing to say the least.
2
So why isn’t Facebook being held accountable for this? Where are you interviews with Zuckerberg and Sandberg asking them how they allowed this to happen???
1
Isn't it ironic? There is a culture war, and Trump won the election. More irony? Tweeter-in-chief tweets about fake news while showing himself to be a huge populist fake. History books should be very unkind to our scam artist President.
1
I don't know, but I keep feeling that the Trump supporters are either very gullible or very impressionable, because every time I see something like this that borders on the illegal or at least unethical, I keep hearing Donald Trump complaining about "Crooked H" or that suddenly Barack Obama was again born in a Muslim country or that Obama wiretapped him in Trump Tower. He protests too much and I say now who is corrupt? I don't trust him as far as I can throw him and that likely is not too far.
1
Psychological manipulation at its finest! This is why it is imperative that individuals research information for themselves and stop embracing the microwave mentality. It disensitizes and dumbs down. Everything posted on social media isn’t true. Not even the couple who consistently posts pictures of their wonderful family trip and how happy they are when the Husband has a mistress that “few” know about. Social media is a place to create a false narrative when the purpose is to deceive.
2
Ironic how much these folks rely on SCIENCE!
1
This article is a bombshell. Here is a smoking gun, a roadmap of lies and confidence tricks in order to further a conservative revolution. To Bannon, the Mercers, Dr. Kogan, Mr. Nix, the ends justified the means. I am not a lawyer but it looks illegal to me. It dismays me that Facebook and social media was not more on the ball to protect the people that trusted them. The greed of academics who would sell their skills, the arrogance of people with money, created a perfect storm, a nuclear bomb of how the Internet and social media can destroy the freedoms we have worked so hard to protect.
2
I don't want any part of this for-profit, mass-opinion-manipulating, personal-data-leaking machine.
I just deleted my Facebook account: Log in> Down Arrow> Settings> General> Manage Account> Request Account Deletion> etc.
I felt "deletion" more secure than the "deactivation" option, in which Facebook retains your information to allow you to reactivate later.
1
Finally a link to Giuliani: In 2002, Giuliani founded Giuliani Partners (security consulting), acquired and later sold Giuliani Capital Advisors (investment banking), and joined a Texas firm while opening a Manhattan office for the firm renamed Bracewell & Giuliani (legal services).
We can blame social media, Russia, perhaps the alignment of the planets etc. for the election of Trump as President. But in the end, lots of people voted for the man despite his shortcomings. His misogyny, xenophobia, racist tendencies and narcissism were plainly evident if anyone had bothered to listen to him during his rallies or any of the debates. People voted for him anyway for various reasons. Now it seems, we are trying to find fault with everything and everyone else except the people who made the decision to vote for him. Were they misled by Trump? Do politicians lie to get votes? Trump is not unique in that regard. Hillary made some condescending comments recently that Trump voters are backward. Unfortunately these sorts of attitudes are extremely unhelpful if Democrats want to win elections. Ignore desparate people and watch Trump get re-elected.
2
I was on Facebook for a year and a half as, you know, myself. What I discovered was my "real" friends ware as boring as I was. And tedious. And Trite. I quit and became someone--totally, absolutely, absurdly--else. My "data" is subversive, untrue, enjoyable and untrue. I can't really explain it, but it's wonderful. Facebook spacebook, whatever, no one will ever collect anything remotely called the truth from me.
1
We are to believe that tens of millions of those flyover country 'deplorables' were duped by the Mercers, via hijacked FB data, into voting for Trump...or was it the Russians at the Internet Research Agency that duped tens of millions of voters, including those in specific districts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio?
Isn't this from the same people that told us Hillary had a 95% chance of winning the day before the election?
1
This database was joined with the database of the NRA - which is what Torshin's $30,000,000 illegal payoff was all about, so think about it - The Russians actually have more accurate data about who owns all the guns in America and what kind of car they drive than the U.S. government has been allowed to have by legislation for over 20 years thanks to the NRA lobby. As for FaceBook, How do you say, Parallax View? Robert Mercer is to Facebook as Parallax View is to Winter Kills.
1
Wow, here is something folks hate worse than Trump! Data mining started back when Walmart first started asking me for my zip code. I was aghast at such nosiness. I used to give a fake number or not at all. Too paranoid I guess. I had a clerk tell me I could not buy my bread and milk unless he entered a number in for the sale. the next store was 20 miles, so I relented and gave it up. Been giving up more ever since. What trouble comes my way?
For all you know, they may have saved you a nickel on the bread by coordinating their delivery system with the zip codes.
Surely somewhere in this nasty mess there is opportunity for a huge class-action lawsuit against Facebook and Zuckerberg.
The way to correct the bad behavior is to take their money away--not through confiscation, but through legal and civil suits. Then there is the obvious individual solution of shutting down one's Facebook account. If enough people quit Facebook Zuckerberg will have no choice but to change his evil ways.
4
So I wonder who it was from the Trump campaign (Bannon? Flynn? Kushner? Don Jr?) who gave this voter profile data to the Russians to improve the effectiveness of their election meddling?
1
Spouse up your email list of people you really want to stay in touch with and start using it, subscribe online to the news outlets you trust and stop reading things written anonymously. Then stop using or reading Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat etc. You will almost certainly become better informed and more meaningfully connected. You may start reading books again, or listening to albums all the way through. And you will not be so easily brainwashed by evil folks like these.
3
In a nation teetering left and right, all following propositions can be true: 1. As noted, HC blew some campaign decisions all by herself; 2. Trump's wacky and insidious performance resonated with a certain portion of electorate; 3. Voter suppression laws around the country (enabled by gerrymandered state voting districts) robbed HC of some votes that were significant, and 4. The techniques of Cambridge Analytica pushed Trump over the top through manipulation of a small group of small minds... not to mention #5, the famous Russian bots could have amplified the idiotic Bernie Bro refusal to vote for HC. All-in-all, a sickening vision of American Democracy delivering the catastrophic Trump presidency.
2
Food for thought! What to believe? Is this the truth, or is this just a conspiracy theory about an entity that invents conspiracy theories?
Is this the end of capitalism? When everything, including democracy, is for sale to the highest bidder, even when this is a brutish foreign dictator?
Maybe the basic cultural difference is between continental culture and maritime culture: continental culture is about to get power, to subjugate everyone else, at all costs. Think Attila the Hun, Genghis Kahn.
Maritime culture is about financial power, about money: it may not grasp continental culture. Trump and the GOP and the ilk do not seem to understand the dangerous games they play with the Russians, who may outsmart them. The Russians understand them better than they understand the Russians. Scary!
Somebody commented that this brouhaha was all about protecting and advancing the interests of "the left," but when it came to "the right" their +interests were ignored. People make a mistake in equating and conflating the Trump phenomenon with "the right" or with "conservatives."
But Trump and his followers are sui generis. It doesn't matter what they call themselves, they dishonor every classification they take on. Were it not for Trump, and the disgust that he spreads in his wake, along with the real fear that he is going to permanently divide and damage our country, the debate over Facebook would be far less heated. Trump, his slimy minions, corrupt funders, and ignorant, bigoted partisans are abnormal and pathological. Getting him out of office is vital, if it's not too late already, to bring about some kind of rapprochement in this country.
1
Trump was right, the election was rigged....for his benefit. Potin, Cambridge Analytica, Russian troll farm, all allies of Trump worked to put him in office. It has become obvious, at least to this voter, our election was manipulated to produce the result we see now, a dysfunctional government and unrest in the country.
2
In the year 2000, there was no need for Facebook. In 2018, there is no need for Facebook. Unplug from it, your kids already have...it is that simple.
3
Another attempt to explain why Hillary lost. Her latest explanation is that husbands forced their wives to vote for Trump. :)
The truth is Americans wanted a president with honesty, integrity and didn't want to be governed by a radical liberal Democrat.
1
Scientists and technocrats fall in love with all the brilliant things they can do with their minds, then wonder about the ethical implications later. Reminds me of Robert Oppenheimer's "destroyer of worlds" comment after he watched the first A-bomb test.
1
I have two friends, a married couple, who years ago apologized to me for calling me paranoid. That was after Snowden. That was when it "clicked" with them about my warnings and fears.
I fully expect them to apologize again. Their are in their 60s, but still the husband has - against my explicit advice - opened up a Facebook account recently. And see what happened now, again...
I don't have Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Google Plus, WhatsUp or _anything_, except this NYT account and one on WaPo. I'm in IT, deeply. I know this stuff. I wish people would _think_ before they subscribe to these kind of services. It is absolutely unbelievable to me how much people "share" these days. Has crime vanished from the earth overnight? I don't think so!
Everybody is making themselves a willing target for blackmail, theft (including ID theft), intimidation and manipulation. And for what? To have "friends" that you can never have a beer with because they live across the dateline? I don't get it. Maybe it's a generational thing. But I'm pretty much keeping myself to myself online and instead have beers with my real friends offline...
1
And the Ren Tech hedge fund with Russian money will be revealed. Isn't data mining great and beg for one's right to have data freeze laws. How about a court case instead of a mere tweet? A democracy run by billionaires data mining their people is discovered? Boy it took 5 years.
Facebook is de facto a monopoly. They have no peer competitors. They can do whatever they want without any accountability to anyone -- not their users, their advertisers, communities or countries.
As this article suggests, they know you better than you know yourself, including what buttons to push to elicit a specific response based on data bits they've systematically hoarded over years of tracking user actions. With the advent of digital payments (Apple Pay) and credit cards with smart chips, they know who you are, where you are and what you're buying. Their algorithms can predict with pinpoint accuracy what you buy next and why.
The same algorithms that can determine what you buy, can be easily re-purposed to profile your political values, custom-tailor silo messages, and trigger a specific action such as voting or not voting.
Google voraciously aggregates user data as well. Apple swears it'll never do that. But that's gratuitous because Apple doesn't have a platform that tracks users the same way as Google and Facebook.
But Facebook is dominant by a mile. It's effectively a public utility that's owned and controlled by Zuckerberg, a billionaire messianic cyborg who despite FB's PR machine has few redeeming qualities or social conscience.
FB is now too big to fail. It's a utility and needs public oversight and regulation.
(I typo'd Facebook as Fakebook as I began this post. Sometimes your fingers are closer to the truth than your mind.)
Glad I never signed on to FACEBOOK- it is a dangerous place where where bullies and gossip thrives. It undermines democracy.
1
And the irony?
It's only our faith in cyber-security that's stopping this comment section data from being collected and correlated and studied without our knowledge, even as we contributors write our thoughts on cyber-crime.
Even as I propose this hypothetical circumstance.
Even as I write these words.
Someone is always monitoring, someone is always watching.
Think I'm gunna turn off the web and go sit in my cupboard.
1
Most things are worth what you pay for them.
1
As Americans (and British) slowly realize what has happened here, they will be _furious_.
Also, it's time to re-think our how conceptualization of public knowledge and civil debate.
We've been had.
FB and other social media need to be regulated and their owners, developers and directors held responsible for the consequences of things their platforms enable; everything from teen suicide due to harassment, to jihadi recruitment, to fake news that sways elections, to incitement of hatred and violence...
Transparency must be increased so that people know where content originates from and special interests and foreign trolls can't masquerade as grass roots citizens.
Russian trolls would have had a much harder time creating so many fake accounts if you were required to identify yourself through a validation process when setting up your account. Some apps do this for example Airbnb asks for your identity documents and credit card information. Harder to cheat when you need to provide these things, and easier for law enforcement to find the people behind malignant posts.
And they have the nerve to talk about the Republican shenanigans?
NYT writes story about the evils of it's political opponents using data gleaned from opt-in Facebook app usage - while simultaneously using a Facebook integration in its own site designed to do the same thing.
Yeah, seems legit.
2
As I was reading these articles, I wondered ‘to what end?’ What utopia is Steve Bannon imagining that justified these acts? When he says that culture is upstream of politics - is the culture he created the one that he wanted?
Facebook seduced the masses with the promise of uniting a ever more fragmenting population. But every one of these technology advances has wound up further isolating us as we were evolved to interact face to face. These tech giants are not your friends. I am thankful I never partook in this nonsense.
Just curious, since the article didn’t appear to bring this up.
Assuming everything here is true — and it seems so — was any of this illegal?
1
Also, this sentence is straight up terrifying.
“Mr. Nix, a brash salesman, led the small elections division at SCL Group, a political and defense contractor.”
1
On March 6, 2017, the New York Times published an article headlined “Data Firm Says ‘Secret Sauce’ Aided Trump; Many Scoff” that described Cambridge Analytica’s claims about the effectiveness of its vaunted psychographic profiles as exaggerated. The Times noted that “Cambridge executives now concede that the company never used psychographics in the Trump campaign.”
Cambridge Analytica is a U.S. company. There is no Trump-Cambridge Analytica-Russia link. Before the Trump campaign hired Cambridge Analytica in June 2016, it worked for Trump’s Republican primary rival Ted Cruz. The latest federal disclosures suggest the Cruz campaign is relying heavily on Cambridge Analytica as a pillar of his campaign operation, spending $3,055,990.95 from October through December. “We have a very successful relationship,” Cruz spokesman Rick Tyler told the Guardian in December, adding that information was acquired legally. “They’re a great company, they provide us great data, and it helps us be highly effective in communicating with our voters.”
Cambridge Analytical also negotiated a State Department contract, which was approved by the Obama administration but finalized in February 2017.
3
We were all told this was going to happen by those who could see the big picture of social media's impact. What we need now is some sort of representational government that is more concerned about it's people than it's donors. Good luck with that happening.
5
Yet another example of people with too much money using it to cause serious mischief. We need not only a significantly higher marginal tax rate for the wealthiest, but also a wealth tax.
With regard to Facebook, as other commenters have said, users need to be constantly aware that it is a business whose primary objective is to make money; it is not working for us. We can control what we choose to post.
5
Zuckerbook exploited? If so, it's sublime poetic justice.
1
Facebook is spyware that defunct East Germany’s STASI would have envied, and put to its own police-state uses had it been possible at the time. The ironic, truly evil twist in our situation is how spymaster Zuckerberg first manipulated hundreds of millions of naive Americans into betraying themselves, then blinded by avarice, remained clueless about his platform’s usefulness as malware.
Rest assured that whatever Cambridge Analytical did for the Mercers to make a buck can be done by state actors like Putin’s FSB and China’s MSS to destroy the United States. Add their espionage to other enormous security breaches at Yahoo and Equifax — just two incidents of dozens, if not hundreds — enemy states possess an understanding of us that creates strategic vulnerabilities on a scale that defies comprehension.
4
I worked in info tech for decades. I watched the "evil" develop. I watch vast data gathering on consumer habits. I knew once our medical records were connected to the internet, our souls had been sold to the devil. This information would be retrievable, hackable, and used for greed. Here we are.
I still have one dept. from the old days who won't use Facebook. I used it periodically but with bogus personal information except my page visitations. I got off it permanently after learning that Zuck was lying about what he was doing with regards to the 2016 mis-election.
I worked on computers and consider them evil. Yes, I'm on it now.
Time to break up the big guys and enforce laws ... under lawlessness...
6
It's time for Facebook to acknowledged they are NOT a news organization. They are NOT capable of verifying users are real. Time to get off of Facebook.
3
The old adage "Follow the Money" applies to Facebook, Twitter and social media. I doubt social media has done much, if anything, to improve society, and has done quite a lot to damage it.
3
I'm beginning to wonder if democracy can survive the advent of social media.
5
What has all this to do with Donald Trump personally?
Does anyone seriously think he understood the ins and outs of data collection or the specific methodology Cambridge used to gather its information?
Democrats often bragged about their knowledge of what you had for breakfast, in terms of targeting voters. Is anyone interested in how they gathered their very specific information, or the degree to which they invaded voter privacy? Or is media investigative reporting mostly limited to the Republican Party?
1
If Cambridge Analytica's claims are to be believed it provided the right wing, and possibly the Russians, with profiles that enabled them to target sufficient voters to have swung the election to Trump. If so then the election WAS stolen
4
Data on consumer spending and habits has long been collected and resold for many purposes. Granted that this purpose was an attempt to influence an election, but PLEASE let's not use this as yet another excuse why HRC lost. Both her and DJT were flawed candidates from the start, but the sadder commentary is how MSM continues to blame social networking. We created these monsters and now have to live with the consequences. If you don't like them, don't use and more importantly, teach your children not to use them.
1
How are the Mercers and Bannon not being investigated for treason? This goes way beyond advertising a political stance. It pursues private information to manipulate the outcome of an election for financial gain, not the benefit of the American people. It undercuts representation by and for the people and the function of government across the board. Our health and very lives are on the line whether from toxic chemicals, lack of healthcare. infrastructure failure or automatic weapons spray of gunfire.
5
This is Big Brother on steroids.
Couple it with old school State Media e.g. Russia (rewrite Fox News) and you have the formula for a modern 1984 with Newspeak gathering momentum to install Trump as world leader.
FB expresses our "thoughtcrimes" and sets the mode for our rewiring based on our profile of psychometrics via the questions so thoughtfully provided by Dr. Kogan as outlined in the article..
Think of Cambridge Analytica as the formative model for the new "thought police".
As gullible credulous screen watchers whose Analytical Index of critical thought processing is greatly impaired by dream-like images floating on the silver screen review their daily indoctrination they are duped into thinking along their own flawed lines; played for suckers and pawns at the vote machines.
We cannot censor this easily and it is insidious; we've unwittingly handed the enemy the keys to destroy our democracy.
We will this amped up Big Time in prior to the November elections.
God save America and the free world.
3
How did it happen that we have gotten where we are? For at least five years Trump, his family members, his partners, and his election associates have lied. hacked, and stolen to corrupt our electoral process. Now we have the "greatest generation" of traitors. Young people, minorities, and women had better not sit-out 2018 and 2020. There may not be another chance to steer the ship of state off of the rocks.
5
Look in the mirror before blaming facebook. If you use as a way to stay in touch with your friends, your OK. Facebook will not go away set your filters.
From Dr Aleksandr Kogan's publicly available research description:
My lab investigates the prosociality and well-being from biological, psychological, and cross-cultural perspectives. In particular, we are highly interested in cooperation, trust, altruism, positive emotions, close relationships, happiness, physical and mental health, and cross-cultural differences.
Trust, altruism, positive emotions? What a hypocrite. Kogan is the type of researcher who gives scientists a bad name: solely focused on his research and his own little world with no ethical consideration of the social consequences of his work. Scientists have focused on being more socially aware of the consequences of their work since the 1950's: apparently Kogan missed this in his training and remains clueless, at best.
4
BREXIT also hijacked using FACEBOOK by targeting individuals. Traditional democracy in Britain and America circumvented by the managers of democracy.
Enter our BRAVE NEW WORLD with Russian connections who also despise the EU like Trump and Nigel Farage who visited Julian Assange on several occasions.
1
Once again, the big bad wolf is to blame. Bad FB! Bad CA! All true, of course. But no one compels anyone to be on FB in the first place. Even in cases where FB is a requirement for work, school, etc., no one forces anyone to take those silly quizzes, which is where users /agree/ to have their data harvested. Corporate malfeasance is bad but so is a lack of personal responsibility - in fact, it is the latter that often fuels the former, especially in the case of social media.
1