U.S. Republican lawmakers concerned by Facebook data leak

[webfact]

U.S. Republican lawmakers concerned by Facebook data leak

 

A 3D-printed Facebook logo is displayed in front of a U.S. flag in this illustration taken, March 18, 2018. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Several U.S. Republican lawmakers expressed concern over privacy violations on Sunday after media reports that a political consultancy that worked on President Donald Trump's campaign gained inappropriate access to 50 million Facebook users' data.

 

Republican Senator Marco Rubio said he believed some internet companies have grown too fast to digest their responsibilities and obligations.

 

"So we'll learn more about this in the days to come. But yeah I'm disturbed by that," Rubio told NBC's "Meet the Press."

 

Senator Rand Paul was asked whether people can trust companies like Facebook in the wake of the report about Cambridge Analytica taking data.

 

"People have to look into it. Whether or not it broke the law, absolutely, the privacy of the American consumer, the American individual, should be protected," Paul said on CNN.

 

Facebook disclosed the issue in a blog post on Friday, hours before media reports that conservative-leaning Cambridge Analytica, a data company known for its work on Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, was given access to the data and may not have deleted it.

 

Facebook said in a statement that a Cambridge University psychology professor had lied to the company and violated its policies by passing data to Cambridge Analytica from an app he had developed. It suspended the firm from Facebook.

 

Facebook did not immediately reply when asked on Sunday for a response to the lawmakers' comments. However, in a new statement Sunday, the company said it was conducting a "comprehensive internal and external review" to determine if the user data in question still existed.

 

Cambridge Analytica and the professor have denied violating Facebook's terms, according to media reports.

 

The scrutiny presented a new threat to Facebook's reputation, which was already under attack over Russians' use of Facebook tools to sway American voters before and after the 2016 U.S. elections.

 

Republican Senator Jeff Flake said he had a lot of questions about the data taken from Facebook, including who knew it had been taken and whether it is still being used.

 

"This is a big deal, when you have that amount of data, and the privacy violations there are significant," he told CNN's "State of the Union" program. "So the question is who knew it and when did they know it, how long did this go on and what happens to that data now."

 

Facebook faced new calls for regulation from Democratic senators on Saturday and was hit with questions about personal data safeguards, but it was unclear whether the Republican-controlled Congress would act.

 

U.S. Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said more investigation was needed.

 

"We need to find out what we can about the misappropriation of the privacy, the private information of tens of millions of Americans," he said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

 

Also on ABC, Senator James Lankford, a Republican, said it was not known whether the incident was connected to the Trump campaign.

 

(Reporting by Susan Cornwell and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Caren Bohan and Lisa Shumaker)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-03-19

[zaphod reborn]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Also on ABC, Senator James Lankford, a Republican, said it was not known whether the incident was connected to the Trump campaign.

 

Let me enlighten you:

Robert Mercer, founder of Cambridge Analytica and largest investor in Breitbart News

Brad Parscale, Trump's digital marketing manager and 2020 campaign manager

Steve Bannon, came up with idea to use Cambridge Analytica to wage a culture war in America (and the UK)

Michael Flynn, Cambridge Analytica Consultant and paid Russian-Turkish lobbyist, former national security adviser for Trump 

Jared Kushner, hired Cambridge Analytics to be Trump campaign's digital marketing firm in 2016

 

I'm sure that Mueller has already found more connections which will be the subject of the next set of indictments.

 

The smoking gun has been found.  Indicted, impeached, convicted, imprisoned.

Edited March 19, 2018 by zaphod reborn

[farcanell]

But on the other hand.... are there really any Facebook users that are unaware that they have an easily accessible digital footprint, and that their laundry, dirty or otherwise, is hanging out there for all too see?

 

hell... a couple of years ago, I read about a predictive app, that could, by using previous postings ( like dinnerplate photos), forecast your future movements

[Trouble]

Private information, on Facebook?   It's all out there for anyone to see.  A lot of politicians making a lot of noise. If people don't want it all out there, don't post it.  You will never convince the kids however, that securing a good job in the future will surely mean a check of Facebook and other social media outlets. 

[Thakkar]

Edward Snowden (‪@Snowden‬)

18/3/18, 10:12

 

Businesses that make money by collecting and selling detailed records of private lives were once plainly described as "surveillance companies." Their rebranding as "social media" is the most successful deception since the Department of War became the Department of Defense.

[mtls2005]

This has been known since at least 2016, see "Project Alamo". Voter suppression was a significant goal: basically telling HRC voters that she would win and they didn't need to vote.

 

https://semantiko.com/trump-fake-news-factory/

 

The Trump campaign officials involved (Kushner, Bannon, Parscale et al) were bragging about it publically, for a short time, after the election.

 

Go to ~ 10:45 for a "conclusion".

 

 

 

Edited March 20, 2018 by mtls2005

[mtls2005]

First time I've heard Corey Lewandowski mentioned...

 

 

[attrayant]

Trump’s election consultants filmed saying they use bribes and sex workers to entrap politicians

 

A London network went undercover to investigate how far Cambridge Analytica is willing to go to manipulate elections. At one point in the investigation, CEO Alexander Nix even bragged about entrapping politicians with bribes and prostitutes.

[Thakkar]

9 minutes ago, attrayant said:

Trump’s election consultants filmed saying they use bribes and sex workers to entrap politicians

 

A London network went undercover to investigate how far Cambridge Analytica is willing to go to manipulate elections. At one point in the investigation, CEO Alexander Nix even bragged about entrapping politicians with bribes and prostitutes.

 

Nix is an Eton graduate.

I *knew* there was more to an Eton education than just sticking one’s dick in a dead pig!

[ballpoint]

6 minutes ago, Thakkar said:

 

Nix is an Eton graduate.

I *knew* there was more to an Eton education than just sticking one’s dick in a dead pig!

Now they've graduated to sticking a dick in the Whitehouse

[mtls2005]

1 hour ago, Thakkar said:

Nix is an Eton graduate.

 

And not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

 

Here he's caught on undercover tape bragging about how easy it is for his firm to get undercover dirt on politicians. 

 

"Our guy will pose as a wealthy developer", "We'll use Ukrainian girls, we have a lot of experience doing this."

 

 

What a maroon, not hard to imagine hooked up with Steve "The Canon" Bannon and Trump.

 

 

Edited March 20, 2018 by mtls2005

[mtls2005]

5 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

This has been known since at least 2016

 

Sorry, December 2015. The Mercers, KellyAnne Conway, Cambridge Analytica were working for Ted Cruz until he dropped out in May, 2016. The entire operation switched over to Trump.

 

Ted Cruz using firm that harvested data on millions of unwitting Facebook users

 

Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign is using psychological data based on research spanning tens of millions of Facebook users, harvested largely without their permission, to boost his surging White House run and gain an edge over Donald Trump and other Republican rivals, the Guardian can reveal.

 

A little-known data company, now embedded within Cruz’s campaign and indirectly financed by his primary billionaire benefactor, paid researchers at Cambridge University to gather detailed psychological profiles about the US electorate using a massive pool of mainly unwitting US Facebook users built with an online survey.

As part of an aggressive new voter-targeting operation, Cambridge Analytica – financially supported by reclusive hedge fund magnate and leading Republican donor Robert Mercer – is now using so-called “psychographic profiles” of US citizens in order to help win Cruz votes, despite earlier concerns and red flags from potential survey-takers.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/11/senator-ted-cruz-president-campaign-facebook-user-data

[Thakkar]

4 hours ago, ballpoint said:

Now they've graduated to sticking a dick in the Whitehouse

[mrwebb8825]

Funny that nobody is concerned that Obama authorized the State Department to do the exact same thing using the exact same company to monitor and gather information from Facebook users without their consent. 

 

"The Global Engagement Center was set up under former US president Barack Obama to analyze and push back against online propaganda and recruitment by armed extremist groups such as the Islamic State."

 

Guess WHY you spy offsets the whole "without consent" thing. 

 

http://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/us-state-department-has-us500k-deal-with-under-fire-data-firm-cambridge

[mrwebb8825]

On 3/20/2018 at 2:42 PM, mtls2005 said:

 

Sorry, December 2015. The Mercers, KellyAnne Conway, Cambridge Analytica were working for Ted Cruz until he dropped out in May, 2016. The entire operation switched over to Trump.

 

Ted Cruz using firm that harvested data on millions of unwitting Facebook users

 

Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign is using psychological data based on research spanning tens of millions of Facebook users, harvested largely without their permission, to boost his surging White House run and gain an edge over Donald Trump and other Republican rivals, the Guardian can reveal.

 

A little-known data company, now embedded within Cruz’s campaign and indirectly financed by his primary billionaire benefactor, paid researchers at Cambridge University to gather detailed psychological profiles about the US electorate using a massive pool of mainly unwitting US Facebook users built with an online survey.

As part of an aggressive new voter-targeting operation, Cambridge Analytica – financially supported by reclusive hedge fund magnate and leading Republican donor Robert Mercer – is now using so-called “psychographic profiles” of US citizens in order to help win Cruz votes, despite earlier concerns and red flags from potential survey-takers.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/11/senator-ted-cruz-president-campaign-facebook-user-data

Just really sad that nobody cared until the news tied it to President Trump's name. 

[lannarebirth]

On 3/19/2018 at 7:28 PM, Thakkar said:

Edward Snowden (‪@Snowden‬)

18/3/18, 10:12

 

Businesses that make money by collecting and selling detailed records of private lives were once plainly described as "surveillance companies." Their rebranding as "social media" is the most successful deception since the Department of War became the Department of Defense.

 

A little bit of irony² there. 

[Pib]

A couple of lawmakers "concerned?"  Is that kinda like how they send "thoughts and prayers" after mass shootings, but then do nothing other than take more donations from the NRA.   

[lannarebirth]

On 3/19/2018 at 7:34 PM, mtls2005 said:

This has been known since at least 2016, see "Project Alamo". Voter suppression was a significant goal: basically telling HRC voters that she would win and they didn't need to vote.

 

https://semantiko.com/trump-fake-news-factory/

 

The Trump campaign officials involved (Kushner, Bannon, Parscale et al) were bragging about it publically, for a short time, after the election.

 

Go to ~ 10:45 for a "conclusion".

 

 

 

 

That's interesting.  In an era when you can't believe in anything, people are more drawn to believe in everything, provided it comes from the approved source, whether it be true or not.

[lannarebirth]

On 3/19/2018 at 10:45 PM, Thakkar said:

 

Nix is an Eton graduate.

I *knew* there was more to an Eton education than just sticking one’s dick in a dead pig!

That was a good show, though I think the Brits always like to go a bit too far. They also like to wear women's underwear and get paddled I understand.

Edited March 22, 2018 by lannarebirth

[Thakkar]

58 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

That was a good show, though I think the Brits always like to go a bit too far. They also like to wear women's underwear and get paddled I understand.

Hey, I’ll start wearing men’s underwear the day they start making them as soft and as comfortable as they make women’s underwaer.