Facebook discards data firm Cambridge Analytica, here’s why

The market is filled with endless social networking platforms, billed in on them by developers. In a time like this, it is easy to render the privacy of users by showering unnecessary exposure on their personal lives. Data-firm Cambridge Analytica has caught in a similar situation of policy impinging on the privacy rights of the users.

The Mark Zuckerberg-led firm has finally decided to do away with the firm. Paul Grewal, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of Facebook stated in a post on Friday, March 16 that the group decided after reports of Cambridge Analytica was not completely deleted and was provided to them by a University of Cambridge professor. The company found Cambridge Analytica of violating Facebook policies.

In addition to this, Grewal further added that Dr. Aleksandr Kogan, the Psychology Professor at the University of Cambridge was found to have wronged the passage of data due to Strategic Communication Laboratories from his application. The professor made use of Facebook Login, which violated Facebook’s Platform policies.

Through this, Kogan would gain access to information on those using the application. He had access to information such as the city they were living in then, the pages and content they liked and personality prediction. It billed on Facebook as “a research app used by psychologists.” As per reports, over 270,000 users fell for the catch and downloaded the application. Users continued to give consent to whatever was required of them, which consequently allowed Kogan to pass on data to Christopher Wylie of Eunoia Technologies, Inc.

Reportedly, Kogan did gain access to the information legitimately through proper channels governed by Facebook at that time; he did not subsequently abide by the rules put forward by the social media giant. “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. By passing information on to a third party, including SCL/Cambridge Analytica and Christopher Wylie of Eunoia Technologies, he violated our platform policies,” says Paul Grewal, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of Facebook.