Trumps victory in 2016 and Facebook

The world's biggest social network is at the center of an international scandal involving voter data, the 2016 US presidential election and Brexit.

Yes ,one of the gaint social media facebook was misused  for trumps election campaign in 2016.

Consultants working for Donald Trump's presidential campaign exploited the personal Facebook data of millions.

That's the key message in March 17 stories by The New York Times and the UK's Guardian and Observer newspapers, as well as in statements from Facebook. The stories and statements indicate the social networking giant was duped by researchers, who reportedly gained access to the data of more than 50 million Facebook users, which was then misused for political ads during the 2016 US presidential election.

Until now, most of what you've heard about Facebook and the 2016 election has been focused on meddling by Russian operatives. Those efforts are being investigated by the FBI and the US Senate. 

Data consultancy Cambridge Analytica represents a different problem. The UK-based company reportedly acquired data about millions of Facebook users in a way that violated the social network's policies. It then tapped that information to build psychographic profiles of users and their friends, which were utilized for targeted political ads in the UK's Brexit referendum campaign, as well as by Trump's team during the 2016 US election. 

Facebook says it told Cambridge Analytica to delete the data, but also that reports suggest the info wasn't destroyed. Cambridge Analytica says it complies with the social network's rules, only receives data "obtained legally and fairly," and did wipe out the data Facebook is worried about.

What is Cambridge Analytica?

Cambridge Analytica is a UK-based data analytics firm, whose parent company is Strategic Communication Laboratories. Cambridge Analytica helps political campaigns reach potential voters online. The firm combines data from multiple sources, including online information and polling, to build "profiles" of voters. The company then uses computer programs to predict voter behavior, which then could be influenced through specialized advertisements aimed at the voters.

Cambridge Analytica isn't working with a small amount of user data either. The company says it has "5,000 data points on over 230 million American voters" -- or pretty much all of us, considering there are an estimated 250 million people of voting age in the US. 

The company has since faced criticism for what executives, including what CEO Alexander Nix, said in a series of undercover videos shot by the UK's Channel 4. In the videos, he discussed lies and seeming blackmail he'd perform as part of his efforts to sway elections.

"We have lots of history of things," Nix said in the videos, "I'm just giving you examples of what can be done and what, what has been done."

Nix has since been suspended from his job as CEO. His comments "do not represent the values or operations of the firm and his suspension reflects the seriousness with which we view this violation," the company said in a statement.

What did Cambridge Analytica do?

Facebook said in a statement late on Friday, March 16, that Cambridge Analytica received user data from Aleksandr Kogan, a lecturer at the University of Cambridge. Kogan reportedly created an app called "thisisyourdigitallife" that ostensibly offered personality predictions to users while calling itself a research tool for psychologists.

The app asked users to log in using their Facebook account. As part of the login process, it asked for access to users' Facebook profiles, locations, what they liked on the service, and importantly, their friends' data as well.

"Although Kogan gained access to this information in a legitimate way and through the proper channels that governed all developers on Facebook at that time, he did not subsequently abide by our rules," Paul Grewal, a vice president and general counsel at Facebook, said in a statement.The problem, Facebook says, is that Kogan then sent this user data to Cambridge Analytica without user permission, something that's against the social network's rules.

Kogan didn't respond to requests for comment. The New York Times said he cited nondisclosure agreements and declined to provide details about what happened, saying his personality prediction program was "a very standard vanilla Facebook app."

What does this have to do with Trump?

The Trump campaign hired Cambridge Analytica to run data operations during the 2016 election. Steve Bannon, who eventually became Trump's chief strategist, was also reportedly vice president of Cambridge Analytica's board. The company helped the campaign identify voters to target with ads, and gave advice on how best to focus its approach, such as where to make campaign stops. It also helped with strategic communication, like what to say in speeches.

"The applications of what we do are endless," Cambridge Analytica CEO Nix said last year in an interview with CNET sister site TechRepublic.

The White House didn't respond to a request for comment.

Cambridge Analytica also worked with other 2016 presidential election campaigns, according to its website and various media reports. Those included the campaigns of Sen. Ted Cruz and presidential candidate Ben Carson, who went on to join Trump's cabinet as secretary of housing and urban development. 

Why did Facebook ban Cambridge Analytica from its service? 

Facebook said Cambridge Analytica "certified" three years ago it had deleted the information, as did Kogan. But since then, Facebook said, it's received reports that not all the user data was deleted. The New York Times reported at the outset of this controversy that at least some of it remains.

Cambridge Analytica said in a statement that it deleted all the data and is in contact with Facebook about the issue.

Meanwhile, Christopher Wylie, the whistleblower who detailed how Cambridge Analytica reportedly misappropriated Facebook user data, said on Twitter that his Facebook account has been suspended. A few days later, he held a press conference to discuss his situation and the larger controversy.

"I'm actually really confused by Facebook," Wylie said. "They make me out to be this suspect, or some kind of nefarious person."

Was Facebook hacked?

The New York Times characterizes this as a data "breach" and says it's "one of the largest data leaks in the social network's history." That's in part because the roughly 270,000 users who gave Kogan access to their information allowed him to collect data on their friends as well. In total, more than 50 million Facebook users are said to have been affected.

Facebook, however, says that while Kogan mishandled its data, all the information Kogan got was accessed legally and within its rules. The problem is that Kogan was supposed to hold on to the information himself, not hand it over to Cambridge Analytica or anyone else. So Facebook disputes that the incident was a data breach, because the information was accessed through normal means -- using an app that asked people for access to their information, which they then agreed to.

The social network argued its point even further in an update to its March 16 statement, saying that calling this episode a "breach" is "false."

"People knowingly provided their information, no systems were infiltrated, and no passwords or sensitive pieces of information were stolen or hacked," the company said.

Of course, critics point out that Kogan was able to do what he allegedly did because Facebook allowed app developers to request and receive access to the data of users' friends. Facebook changed that policy in 2015, prohibiting the practice.

What's Facebook doing about this?

After five long days, Zuckerberg broke his silence Wednesday with a nearly 1,000-word post on his Facebook page. (C'mon, did you really expect it to show up on Twitter?) The post was his first since since March 2, when he shared a photo of his family celebrating the Jewish holiday of Purim. 

Zuckerberg acknowledged that Facebook had made mistakes with users' information. "We have a responsibility to protect your data," he wrote. "And if we can't then we don't deserve to serve you."

He also pledged an investigation into apps that had access to "large amounts of information" before the company made changes to how much information third-party apps could access in 2018. Facebook will conduct a full audit of apps that exhibit suspicious behavior and bar developers who don't agree to audits. 

Facebook is also planning to restrict the how much access developers have to your information, limiting the information it gives apps to your name, photo and email address. It will also revoke an app's access to your data if you haven't used it for three months. 

Lastly, Facebook will begin displaying a gauge at the top of your News Feed that lets you know which apps you've used and let you revoke their permissions. 

All of that will provide comfort to many users, but Zuckerberg isn't out of hot water yet. Lawmakers are threatening to call him to testify in both the US and UK.

India Warns the Facebook

Amidst the ongoing controversy over data breach which involves Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, Indian IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has declared that the government will take “strong actions” against Facebook if the need arises.

The union information technology minister warned Mark Zuckerberg against any attempts made to influence the country’s electoral process through unfair means.

He further added that if any data theft of Indians has occurred with the collusion of Facebook, the government of India will not tolerate it and can even use legal power to “summon” Facebook’s CEO.

At present, Indian law doesn’t have data protection laws, but experts have hinted that the IT Act has extended provisions that could be invoked in case a data breach occurs.