Facebook announces forensic audit of Trump data firm Cambridge Analytica

[MelissaB]

Facebook announces forensic audit of Trump data firm Cambridge Analytica

Cambridge Analytica has agreed to a digital forensic audit of its servers and systems in an attempt to show that it deleted certain Facebook data it held on some American users, Facebook said in a blog post on Monday.

Facebook asked the company to agree to an audit after The New York Times and The Observer reported that Cambridge Analytica may not have deleted certain data it had acquired about millions of Facebook users when Facebook asked it to do so in 2015.

"If this data still exists, it would be a grave violation of Facebook's policies and an unacceptable violation of trust and the commitments these groups made," Facebook said in the blog post.

Facebook also said it had hired Stoz Friedberg, a digital forensic firm, to conduct the audit.

More: http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/19/technology/cambridge-analytica-audit/index.html?sr=twmoney031918cambridge-analytica-audit1228PMStory

[dalton99a]

1. "If this data still exists"

"He said it doesn't exist. He said it doesn't exist. I asked him again. You can only ask so many times!!!"

[Xipe Totec]

3. And if it exists where we're looking. nt

[OnDoutside]

16. Exactly. It could and probably was copied loads of times, but I think it may miss the point that

they used that data to create, test and prove their algorithms, for use later with bigger data sets.

[Squinch]

2. The whistleblower said FB's previous effort to protect it's customers' privacy was to ask

CA if they erased everything and to sign a paper to that effect.

This is better. Still wouldn't trust them.

[BigmanPigman]

4. Fox guarding the hen house or

locking the barn door after the horses have gotten out? Which applies? BOTH!

Fuckerberg knew of this in 2015 and did NOTHING but allow the Moron to get elected (traitor) and get richer doing so (greedy SOB acting like a greedy GOP). He is complicit in collusion. Mueller mist already be investigating him by now. If guilty, fine him and lock him up too...he is a criminal like the rest. I am not fooled by his guy next door, "every man" t-shirt wearing image. He wears suits and ties and speaks Russian and Chinese with ease when addressing large groups of politicians and businessmen in other countries while wearing a suit and tie. He is a greedy liar and he is NOT Mr. Innocent college tech dude!

[sunonmars]

5. Yeah sure, thats going to work.

[dalton99a]

6. It's like Trump asking Putin if Russia meddled in the election

if he ever asked Putin

[TubbersUK]

7. FB is on Cambridge Analytica premises and the UK authorities are livid

as FB are also a target of an open enquiry into the matter.


The UK regulator doesn't want Facebook anywhere near - FB is also under investigation.

Link to tweet

[sunonmars]

8. FB have been up to a lot more than we know I think, arrests are coming.

[MelissaB]

15. I hope so.

This is come crazy stuff.

[HopeAgain]

9. Huh?

All they need is a hard drive somewhere else and no analysis can prove anything. Am I wrong?

[unblock]

11. i guess they need to show reasonable looking backups from years ago that don't include

the particular data in question but that do include a lot of other stuff from that period of time.

so if they keep an effective backup at the end of each day (or week or whatever), then an auditor can pick a few randomly and check to make sure it the data in question isn't there *and* it looks like a reasonable backup that wasn't tampered with or just created yesterday.


but yeah, if they made a copy a few years ago and then properly deleted it from the "real" servers, i don't see how an audit could catch that.

they only get caught if they kept the data on their real servers. then it would be very hard for them to doctor all the backups to make it look like they deleted it years ago.

[kstewart33]

10. Who the hay trusts Facebook?

Their audit won't be worth crap.

British officials are currently seeking a warrant to raid CA's headquarters.

[Tatiana]

12. What a bleeping JOKE!

Facebook is conducting an audit????

More like having its own forensic technicians cover up their wrongdoing.

[TheBlackAdder]

13. Backup SSD drive and tapes are a wonderful thing. Perform system recoveries off of them.

A forensic audit means jack.

Copies of the servers could be squirreled anywhere.

[MelissaB]

14. Apparently Brit police have just arrived , warrant in hand

Link to tweet