Topic: Cambridge Analytica

Meta agrees to a $725 million settlement over the Cambridge Analytica privacy lawsuit. Referencing Vivek Ramaswamy, the hosts discuss how the Department of Justice under the Obama administration allegedly diverted bank settlement funds to left-wing non-profits like La Raza and the National Urban League instead of the U.S. Treasury.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has accused Meta of violating privacy promises and misusing the data of young users. The FTC is proposing a total ban on Meta monetizing data from users under 18. This follows a $5 billion penalty in 2019 related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, with the regulator alleging that children are still able to communicate with unapproved contacts.

Whistleblower Brittany Kaiser discusses her time at Cambridge Analytica and the 2016 Trump campaign's use of "dark money" and psychographic targeting. She claims the campaign specifically targeted "neurotic" individuals with fear-based messaging. The hosts question Kaiser's framing of "manipulative communications," noting that all marketing is inherently manipulative.

A report from the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) concluded that Cambridge Analytica's influence on the Brexit vote was greatly exaggerated. The investigation found that the company primarily used commercially available data and "off-the-shelf" analytical tools. The ICO described the scandal as a "storm in a teacup," noting that the only "special sauce" was the hyperbole used by the company's sales team.

Listeners from South Korea and Guyana provide local updates. The report from Guyana mentions an upcoming election and the influence of ExxonMobil and international intelligence agencies, while also referencing the Netflix documentary "The Great Hack" regarding Cambridge Analytica.

The Netflix documentary The Great Hack features whistleblower Brittany Kaiser discussing Cambridge Analytica's role in the 2016 election. Kaiser describes how the firm used psychological data to target "neurotic" individuals with fear-based messaging. The discussion questions the actual effectiveness of these tactics compared to standard political marketing and "dark money" operations.

Cambridge Analytica reportedly used Trinidad as a "petri dish" to test voter suppression tactics before applying them in Western democracies. The "Do So" campaign targeted Afro-Trinidadian youth, making it "cool" not to vote in order to influence the election outcome in favor of their clients. This micro-targeting exploited existing ethnic tensions between the Indian and Black populations in the country.

HBO is set to release a film titled "Brexit" starring Benedict Cumberbatch, which focuses on the data-driven tactics used by the "Leave" campaign. The hosts characterize the film as elite propaganda designed to convince the public that the referendum was manipulated by technology and figures like Steve Bannon. They mock the production as a "Hollywood elite" attempt to delegitimize the vote.

PBS Frontline launched a transparency project by releasing the full, unedited interview with Trump digital director Brad Parscale. The project aims to provide context on how the 2016 campaign utilized Facebook's data and algorithms. The move follows ongoing investigations into whether Facebook sold or shared user data with political consulting firms like Cambridge Analytica.

Brad Parscale clarified the Trump campaign's relationship with Cambridge Analytica, stating that the $6 million payment was primarily for a TV ad buy managed by Steve Bannon and for specific digital staff. Parscale claimed he hired the firm to gain access to Matt Oskowski and his team, who had previously worked for Scott Walker, rather than for their data mining capabilities. He maintained that the campaign did not utilize Cambridge Analytica for primary data work.

The Guardian's year-end donation appeal is criticized for its partisan framing, citing its coverage of Donald Trump and Jamal Khashoggi as proof of "independent" journalism. The hosts find the pitch disingenuous given the publication's clear editorial biases.

Facebook experienced a record-breaking $119 billion loss in market value following a profit warning from CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The decline is attributed to increased spending on security and a drop in daily active users following the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The hosts criticize the company's lack of customer service, citing an instance where a fake profile of a deceased police officer could not be removed.

At the F8 developers conference, Mark Zuckerberg announced a new "Clear History" feature that allows users to see and delete the data Facebook collects from third-party apps and websites. The hosts express shock at the revelation that Facebook tracks "off-Facebook" browsing history extensively. This move is seen as a response to the Cambridge Analytica scandal and an attempt to rebuild user trust through increased transparency.

The UK Parliament's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee has issued a stern warning to Mark Zuckerberg, threatening a formal summons if he does not testify in London. Committee Chair Damian Collins stated that while Zuckerberg is outside UK jurisdiction currently, he would be subject to the summons upon his next entry into the country. The committee expressed dissatisfaction with the evidence provided by other Facebook executives regarding the Cambridge Analytica data breach.

Cambridge Analytica announced it is shutting down and filing for bankruptcy in the US and UK, blaming "unfairly negative" media coverage for the loss of its clients. Meanwhile, a study from San Francisco State University has coined the term "phoneliness" to describe the loneliness and anxiety caused by smartphone addiction. Researchers compare the neurological connections formed by heavy phone use to those seen in opioid addiction.

CBS's 60 Minutes interviewed Aleksandr Kogan, the researcher who collected Facebook data for Cambridge Analytica. Kogan explained that his app used a standard Facebook feature to access the data of tens of millions of users' friends without their explicit consent. He noted that tens of thousands of developers used this same "feature" for years, and that Facebook was fully aware of the capability.

A major revelation from the 60 Minutes report is that Aleksandr Kogan's research partner, Joseph Chancellor, is currently employed by Facebook. Kogan testified that he and Chancellor did everything together, yet only Kogan has been publicly discredited and financially ruined. Kogan also revealed that he consulted for Facebook in 2015, teaching them how to apply the lessons learned from the Cambridge Analytica dataset internally.

The Cambridge Analytica scandal has expanded to include its parent company, SCL Group, which held contracts with the British Ministry of Defence for "psychosocial research." SCL's client list includes governments in Kenya and Ukraine, where they allegedly used data-driven strategies to influence elections and weaken political rivals. There are growing suspicions that Western intelligence agencies may have used these psychographic techniques and framed the activities as Russian meddling.

Senator Richard Blumenthal accuses Facebook of "willful blindness" and violating an FTC consent decree. The discussion covers the monetization of user information, the role of data brokers like FICO, and Facebook's support for the SESTA sex trafficking legislation.

Former Google engineer Yonatan Zunger argues that the Cambridge Analytica scandal is evidence of a systemic ethical crisis in the tech industry. He claims Facebook built its systems specifically to allow for the harvesting of user networks. Zunger emphasizes that professional engineers must consider how systems can be exploited by bad actors, rather than just how they function under ideal conditions.