CounterpediaExplore knowledge. Follow the sources.

Cambridge Analytica Facebook

Research entry · not admitted

The collection through Aleksandr Kogan's Facebook application commonly known as `thisisyourdigitallife` / GSRApp of data from direct app users and, through Facebook's then-existing Graph API, data associated with many of those users' Fac…

The collection through Aleksandr Kogan's Facebook application commonly known as `thisisyourdigitallife` / GSRApp of data from direct app users and, through Facebook's then-existing Graph API, data associated with many of those users' Facebook friends; transfer and use of data/work product by Cambridge Analytica/SCL for voter profiling and targeting; Facebook's platform/data-governance role; U.S. Federal Trade Commission findings and settlements; UK Information Commissioner's Office investigation and enforcement; UK parliamentary investigations; Cambridge Analytica's claimed and disputed psychographic capabilities; and the crucial distinction between:

Scope

The initial governed demo scope is primarily:

The dossier does not assume Cambridge Analytica caused Donald Trump's victory, caused Brexit, or possessed a uniquely effective "mind-control" technology.

  • data acquisition / deception / platform-policy conduct, and
  • whether Cambridge Analytica's work measurably changed an election outcome.
  • U.S. Facebook data / U.S. voter profiling,
  • 2016 U.S. presidential-election claims,
  • UK regulatory/parliamentary evidence where it illuminates data lineage, organizational claims, or evidentiary limits.

Questions and claims

  • C-1 — 270,000 vs 50–65 million vs 87 million(question / dispute)
  • C-2 — Legitimate API access vs improper transfer/use(question / dispute)
  • C-3 — Raw data vs derivative model(question / dispute)
  • C-4 — "Facebook data was used in Trump campaign" vs "models derived from Facebook data were used"(question / dispute)
  • C-5 — Capability ≠ deployment(question / dispute)
  • C-6 — Deployment ≠ efficacy(question / dispute)
  • C-7 — Efficacy ≠ election outcome causation(question / dispute)
  • C-8 — FTC final CA finding vs Kogan/Nix settlements(question / dispute)
  • C-9 — Facebook platform policy vs data-protection law(question / dispute)
  • C-10 — Facebook £500k vs FTC $5B(question / dispute)
  • C-11 — Cambridge Analytica / Brexit claims(question / dispute)
  • C-12 — FEC case closure vs historical factual conclusion(question / dispute)
  • C-13 — Whistleblower claim vs company denial(question / dispute)
  • C-14 — Psychographic targeting research is not one settled efficacy number(question / dispute)
  • C-15 — Privacy harm does not depend on election-effect proof(question / dispute)

Why not?

  • "87 million users had their data stolen" is too compressed.(semantic trap / refusal)
  • Direct app users ≠ app users' friends.(semantic trap / refusal)
  • "No consent" is too broad unless the data field and person class are specified.(semantic trap / refusal)
  • Platform-policy violation ≠ computer intrusion.(semantic trap / refusal)
  • Facebook's claim that access was "legitimate" under its then-current API channels is a first-party platform characterization, not a complete privacy-law conclusion.(semantic trap / refusal)
  • Kogan's collection ≠ Cambridge Analytica's later use.(semantic trap / refusal)
  • Facebook data ≠ personality score.(semantic trap / refusal)
  • Personality score ≠ voter file.(semantic trap / refusal)
  • Voter profile ≠ delivered political ad.(semantic trap / refusal)
  • Delivered ad ≠ persuasion.(semantic trap / refusal)
  • Persuasion ≠ vote change.(semantic trap / refusal)
  • Vote change ≠ election outcome change.(semantic trap / refusal)
  • Psychographic targeting can be effective in some experimental/commercial contexts without proving Cambridge Analytica's claimed election effect.(semantic trap / refusal)
  • Cambridge Analytica's marketing claims are first-party promotional claims, not independent evidence of efficacy.(semantic trap / refusal)
  • Whistleblower testimony is attributed testimony.(semantic trap / refusal)
  • Alexander Nix's testimony/letters are first-party defense/position.(semantic trap / refusal)
  • FTC complaint allegations ≠ FTC final findings.(semantic trap / refusal)
  • Kogan/Nix consent orders ≠ admissions of every Cambridge Analytica allegation.(semantic trap / refusal)
  • Cambridge Analytica bankruptcy/administration ≠ a merits finding about election influence.(semantic trap / refusal)
  • Facebook's 2019 $5B FTC settlement covers broader privacy-order allegations, not a finding that every dollar of the penalty is attributable to Cambridge Analytica.(semantic trap / refusal)
  • Facebook "up to 87 million" ≠ FTC's 50–65 million U.S. friends estimate.(semantic trap / refusal)
  • A House of Commons committee report is a parliamentary investigative finding, not a criminal or civil judgment.(semantic trap / refusal)
  • The ICO's data-protection findings do not establish U.S. election causation.(semantic trap / refusal)
  • The ICO's statement that it had no evidence CA/SCL performed data-analytics work for EU Referendum campaigns must not be rewritten as proof CA/SCL had no relationship, pitch, contact, or other non-analytics role.(semantic trap / refusal)
  • AIQ ≠ Cambridge Analytica.(semantic trap / refusal)
  • "Cambridge Analytica worked for Trump" ≠ "the Facebook-derived psychographic model was used to determine the election."(semantic trap / refusal)
  • "Psychographics was not used" claims are actor/source-specific and contested.(semantic trap / refusal)
  • FEC matter closure/dismissal ≠ a factual finding that Cambridge Analytica had no effect on the election.(semantic trap / refusal)
  • Privacy harm ≠ electoral-outcome harm.(semantic trap / refusal)
  • Democratic-risk concerns do not require proof that one historical election outcome was changed.(semantic trap / refusal)

Temporal bounds

Data collection/model development: 2013–2015 2016 U.S. election activity: 2015–2016 Public scandal/investigations: 2018–2020 Regulatory/academic lessons: 2019–2026

Sources

  1. CA-S01 — FTC final Cambridge Analytica Opinion and Order
    source · research candidate

    Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

  2. CA-S02 — FTC 2019 complaint against Cambridge Analytica / Kogan / Nix
    source · research candidate

    Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

  3. CA-S03 — FTC final Kogan / Nix consent orders
    source · research candidate

    Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

  4. CA-S04 — FTC Facebook $5 billion privacy settlement
    source · research candidate

    Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

  5. CA-S05 — Facebook March 16, 2018 suspension/timeline statement
    source · research candidate

    Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

  6. CA-S06 — Facebook April 2018 "up to 87 million" estimate
    source · research candidate

    Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

  7. CA-S07 — Facebook March 19, 2018 forensic-audit statement
    source · research candidate

    Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

  8. CA-S08 — Facebook 2019 knowledge-timeline statement
    source · research candidate

    Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

  9. CA-S09 — ICO 2018 final report to Parliament
    source · research candidate

    Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

  10. CA-S10 — ICO Facebook £500,000 monetary penalty
    source · research candidate

    Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

  11. CA-S11 — House of Commons DCMS Final Report
    source · research candidate

    Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

  12. CA-S12 — Christopher Wylie parliamentary evidence
    source · research candidate

    Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

  13. CA-S13 — Alexander Nix parliamentary evidence
    source · research candidate

    Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

  14. CA-S14 — Chris Vickery oral evidence on AIQ/Ripon
    source · research candidate

    Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

  15. CA-S15 — FTC/Facebook platform API policy transition
    source · research candidate

    Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

  16. CA-S16 — FEC MUR 7350 / 7351
    source · research candidate

    Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

  17. CA-S17 — Matz et al., PNAS psychological-targeting field experiments
    source · research candidate

    Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

  18. CA-S18 — Eckles, Gordon & Johnson methodological critique
    source · research candidate

    Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

  19. CA-S19 — Sances 2019 Facebook ad-targeting validation study
    source · research candidate

    Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

  20. CA-S20 — 2020 Brexit psychological-targeting experiment
    source · research candidate

    Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

  21. CA-S21 — Network Propaganda scholarly synthesis
    source · research candidate

    Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

  22. CA-S22 — Facebook/Meta current historical 87M and platform-control record
    source · research candidate

    Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

  23. CA-S23 — House of Commons EU referendum qualification
    source · research candidate

    Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

  24. CA-S24 — Facebook CEO/governance knowledge findings in DCMS report
    source · research candidate

    Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

  25. CA-S25 — Wikipedia comparison surface — OPTIONAL
    source · research candidate

    Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

Inspect
Research pack
demo-corpus-twelve
Artifact
cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1
Artifact kind
dossier
SHA-256
fe48d08174b103b56e22866f930b733f89b221f939619e9340bd919e7c943109

Read with sources

Choose among sources carried by this entry. Selection changes this list, never the article or its conclusions.

Reference overlap is not evidence of claim support, corroboration, or a verdict.

Entry status: research. Sources retain their own status.

Sources to read together

Selected sources (25)

  • CA-S01 — FTC final Cambridge Analytica Opinion and Order

    Role: Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

    Source type: source

    Source status: research candidate

    Issuer / publisher: Not supplied

    Open source: /research/sources/CA-S01

  • CA-S02 — FTC 2019 complaint against Cambridge Analytica / Kogan / Nix

    Role: Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

    Source type: source

    Source status: research candidate

    Issuer / publisher: Not supplied

    Open source: /research/sources/CA-S02

  • CA-S03 — FTC final Kogan / Nix consent orders

    Role: Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

    Source type: source

    Source status: research candidate

    Issuer / publisher: Not supplied

    Open source: /research/sources/CA-S03

  • CA-S04 — FTC Facebook $5 billion privacy settlement

    Role: Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

    Source type: source

    Source status: research candidate

    Issuer / publisher: Not supplied

    Open source: /research/sources/CA-S04

  • CA-S05 — Facebook March 16, 2018 suspension/timeline statement

    Role: Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

    Source type: source

    Source status: research candidate

    Issuer / publisher: Not supplied

    Open source: /research/sources/CA-S05

  • CA-S06 — Facebook April 2018 "up to 87 million" estimate

    Role: Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

    Source type: source

    Source status: research candidate

    Issuer / publisher: Not supplied

    Open source: /research/sources/CA-S06

  • CA-S07 — Facebook March 19, 2018 forensic-audit statement

    Role: Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

    Source type: source

    Source status: research candidate

    Issuer / publisher: Not supplied

    Open source: /research/sources/CA-S07

  • CA-S08 — Facebook 2019 knowledge-timeline statement

    Role: Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

    Source type: source

    Source status: research candidate

    Issuer / publisher: Not supplied

    Open source: /research/sources/CA-S08

  • CA-S09 — ICO 2018 final report to Parliament

    Role: Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

    Source type: source

    Source status: research candidate

    Issuer / publisher: Not supplied

    Open source: /research/sources/CA-S09

  • CA-S10 — ICO Facebook £500,000 monetary penalty

    Role: Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

    Source type: source

    Source status: research candidate

    Issuer / publisher: Not supplied

    Open source: /research/sources/CA-S10

  • CA-S11 — House of Commons DCMS Final Report

    Role: Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

    Source type: source

    Source status: research candidate

    Issuer / publisher: Not supplied

    Open source: /research/sources/CA-S11

  • CA-S12 — Christopher Wylie parliamentary evidence

    Role: Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

    Source type: source

    Source status: research candidate

    Issuer / publisher: Not supplied

    Open source: /research/sources/CA-S12

  • CA-S13 — Alexander Nix parliamentary evidence

    Role: Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

    Source type: source

    Source status: research candidate

    Issuer / publisher: Not supplied

    Open source: /research/sources/CA-S13

  • CA-S14 — Chris Vickery oral evidence on AIQ/Ripon

    Role: Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

    Source type: source

    Source status: research candidate

    Issuer / publisher: Not supplied

    Open source: /research/sources/CA-S14

  • CA-S15 — FTC/Facebook platform API policy transition

    Role: Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

    Source type: source

    Source status: research candidate

    Issuer / publisher: Not supplied

    Open source: /research/sources/CA-S15

  • CA-S16 — FEC MUR 7350 / 7351

    Role: Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

    Source type: source

    Source status: research candidate

    Issuer / publisher: Not supplied

    Open source: /research/sources/CA-S16

  • CA-S17 — Matz et al., PNAS psychological-targeting field experiments

    Role: Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

    Source type: source

    Source status: research candidate

    Issuer / publisher: Not supplied

    Open source: /research/sources/CA-S17

  • CA-S18 — Eckles, Gordon & Johnson methodological critique

    Role: Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

    Source type: source

    Source status: research candidate

    Issuer / publisher: Not supplied

    Open source: /research/sources/CA-S18

  • CA-S19 — Sances 2019 Facebook ad-targeting validation study

    Role: Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

    Source type: source

    Source status: research candidate

    Issuer / publisher: Not supplied

    Open source: /research/sources/CA-S19

  • CA-S20 — 2020 Brexit psychological-targeting experiment

    Role: Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

    Source type: source

    Source status: research candidate

    Issuer / publisher: Not supplied

    Open source: /research/sources/CA-S20

  • CA-S21 — Network Propaganda scholarly synthesis

    Role: Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

    Source type: source

    Source status: research candidate

    Issuer / publisher: Not supplied

    Open source: /research/sources/CA-S21

  • CA-S22 — Facebook/Meta current historical 87M and platform-control record

    Role: Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

    Source type: source

    Source status: research candidate

    Issuer / publisher: Not supplied

    Open source: /research/sources/CA-S22

  • CA-S23 — House of Commons EU referendum qualification

    Role: Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

    Source type: source

    Source status: research candidate

    Issuer / publisher: Not supplied

    Open source: /research/sources/CA-S23

  • CA-S24 — Facebook CEO/governance knowledge findings in DCMS report

    Role: Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

    Source type: source

    Source status: research candidate

    Issuer / publisher: Not supplied

    Open source: /research/sources/CA-S24

  • CA-S25 — Wikipedia comparison surface — OPTIONAL

    Role: Authored in demo-corpus-twelve/cambridge-analytica-facebook-demo-corpus-dossier-v0-1

    Source type: source

    Source status: research candidate

    Issuer / publisher: Not supplied

    Open source: /research/sources/CA-S25

Return to the article