Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


British Authorities: Russians Accessed Private Facebook Data

by VOA News

   British authorities said private Facebook information, which was
   gathered by data-mining company Cambridge Analytica without the consent
   or knowledge of the social media platform's users, was accessed from
   computers based in Russia and other former Soviet states.

   The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), a British government
   investigative office investigating the scandal, said in a statement
   Wednesday that "some of the systems linked to the investigation were
   accessed from IP addresses that resolve to Russia and other areas of
   the CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States]."

   The CIS is a group of 10 countries, including Russia, that were part of
   the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

   In a March report, The New York Times described Cambridge Analytica as
   a firm that "offered tools that could identify the personalities of
   American voters and influence their behavior." Facebook said an
   estimated 87 million users, mostly in the U.S., had their data accessed
   by the firm.

   Christopher Wylie, a whistleblower within the firm, has alleged the
   data harvested may have been turned over to Russian operatives, in an
   effort to influence voters in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

   Wylie said the data gathered by the firm was used to build a
   psychological profile of a potential voter, which in turn would be used
   to target all voters through customized advertising.

   "[Cambridge Analytica's leaders] want to fight a culture war in
   America," Wylie told the Times. "Cambridge Analytica was supposed to be
   the arsenal of weapons to fight that culture war."

   The firm, which has said none of the data was used in the election, was
   employed by Donald Trump's presidential campaign. Steve Bannon, Trump's
   former campaign chief executive, once sat on Cambridge Analytica's
   board of directors.

   While Cambridge Analytica shuttered its doors in May, the investigation
   into its dealing is ongoing. Last week, the ICO announced it would fine
   Facebook 500,000 pounds ($663,000 USD) -- the highest possible fine for
   violating British privacy laws -- and that it would seek to prosecute
   SCL Elections Ltd., the now-defunct parent company of Cambridge
   Analytica.

   U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who currently is investigating
   possible Russian influence in the Trump campaign, is examining the
   firm's relationship with the Trump campaign, ABC News reported in
   March.

   Damian Collins, a Conservative member of the British Parliament who is
   leading the legislative body's inquiry into the incident, confirmed the
   ICO's findings Wednesday.

   "I think what we want to know now is who were those people, and what
   access did they have, and were they actually able to take some of that
   data themselves and use it for whatever things they wanted," Collins
   said.

   According to the Times, the data was obtained through a Facebook app
   designed by Aleksandr Kogan, a psychology professor at Cambridge
   University. The university has denied any ties to the firm.