Published 12:54 IST, January 6th 2020
Former Cambridge Analytica employee to reveal 1,00,000 new documents
Cambridge Analytica scandal is far from over as new shocking details have come under the light after a former employee of the firm leaked new documents.
- World News
- 3 min read
Cambridge Analytica scandal is far from over as new shocking details have come under the light after a former employee of the now-defunct company reportedly leaked explosive documents. An anonymous twitter handle named 'Hindsight is 2020' has started releasing documents, apparently on behalf of Brittany Kaiser, a former employee turned whistleblower. "Democracies around the world are being auctioned to the highest bidder. We release the documents that explain how," reads the biography of the twitter handle.
More to come
So far, documents related to the firm's operations in Brazil, Kenya, Iran, and Malaysia have been released. The new documents reveal unreleased project plans, case studies, emails and negotiations that took place during Cambridge Analytica's active days from 2014-2018. Over the next few months, more than 100,000 documents relating to work in 68 countries are set to be released. The twitter handle alleges that the parent company SCL Group shut down amidst scandal when extensive data work in the shadows of elections globally was called into question via subsidiary Cambridge Analytica. To avoid document confiscation, SCL Group and CA went bankrupt and filed for insolvency proceedings.
The files released by Kaiser revealed that Cambridge Analytica offered to help the United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) to influence voting in over 40 parliamentary constituencies in Malaysia's 14th General Election in 2013. According to the documents, UMNO requested the company to prepare a proposal to regain 13 parliamentary seats in the 2013 general election. Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was the then president of the UMNO party. The party ruled Malaysia for more than sixty years until it was defeated in the 2018 general election. The documents suggested that the company was involved with a political party in Ukraine in 2017. The United Kingdom and the United States launched investigations into Cambridge Analytica's alleged involvement in the 2016 US presidential election and Leave.EU political campaign.
Read: Facebook Social Networking Apparently Under Investigation By FTC , After Cambridge Analytica Penalty
According to US regulators, the company's main objective was to first profile and then target voters from personal information and data provided by Facebook. International media reported that Cambridge Analytica acquired data of up to 87 million Facebook users via the 270,000 users who used the Facebook app called 'This Is Your Digital Life'. Facebook users who downloaded the third-party app gave permission to access their data which resulted in the app sharing the information with Cambridge Analytica. The app breached Facebook's terms of service by sharing data with the UK-based data analytics and consulting company.
Updated 12:54 IST, January 6th 2020