Cambridge Analytica and Facebook data: The whole affair simply explained

Everyone is talking about Cambridge Analytica. This practical tip tells you what the company has to do with Facebook data and whether you are also affected by the scandal.

Cambridge Analytica: what is it actually?

Cambridge Analytica is a US policy consultancy. The analysis of user data is intended to send political messages to individual groups in order to influence their voting behavior.

• In mid-March 2018, however, a former Cambridge Analytica employee revealed how the company obtained the required user data.
• A Cambridge University professor had programmed a Facebook app for surveys called "thisisyourdigitallife". This app was then used by Cambridge Analytica.
• With the help of the app, not only the data of the participants was collected, but also numerous data of friends of the participants.

Cambridge Analytica and Facebook: where is the scandal?

• Only 270, 000 Facebook users took part in the survey. However, due to a data leak, Cambridge Analytica was also able to access the profiles of Facebook friends. This resulted in a data record of around 87 million Facebook users.
• In addition to the rough key data, Cambridge Analytica had access to all information that Facebook has stored about the users. This includes not only public posts and likes, but also private messages.
• Cambridge Analytica used this data for commercial purposes. Among other things, Trump critics and especially undecided voters in the US election campaign were influenced via Facebook. Thanks to the data collected, the messages sent could be tailored to the individual target groups.
• In addition to Donald Trump's election support, which is probably based on illegal means, the scandal lies primarily in the inactivity of Facebook. Facebook had known about the data leak since the end of 2015. However, Facebook has relied on Cambridge Analytica to delete the data. But that didn't happen.

Data scandal on Facebook: what is happening now?

• On April 11th and 12th, Mark Zuckerberg had to testify personally before the American Congress. So far, however, the legal consequences are unclear.
• Since April 9, the affected users have been notified directly via Facebook. In Germany, around 310, 000 Facebook users are said to be affected by the data scandal. On the following Facebook website you can check whether it has also affected you.
• You cannot really defend yourself against the theft of your data. The data has now been confiscated and is not publicly available. If you delete your Facebook profile, this will only protect you from future data theft.
• Alternatively, you can also move anonymously on Facebook. We show you how this works in this practical tip.