Facebook Knew Russia Was Harvesting Data in 2014, U.K. Lawmaker Says

[fleur-de-lisa]

Source: Bloomberg

Facebook Inc. knew that Russian-linked entities were using a feature on the social network that let advertisers harvest large amounts of data as early as October 2014, according to an internal email a U.K. lawmaker said he had reviewed.

Previously, Facebook has said it was unaware of this sort of Russian activity on the social network until after the 2016 election.

Damian Collins, head of a committee of British lawmakers investigating the impact of fake news, said he had reviewed an email from a Facebook engineer highlighting suspicious Russian-linked data harvesting on Facebook two years before that.

Collins’ committee obtained the email after it compelled the founder of a U.S. software company, Six4Three, to hand over a large cache of documents during a business trip to London. The Six4Three founder had obtained the documents as part of a legal discovery process in a lawsuit against Facebook that his company has brought against the social network in California.


Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-27/facebook-knew-of-russian-data-gathering-in-2014-u-k-lawmaker

[Botany]

1. Facebook and Cambridge Analytica worked side by side at a Trump campaign office in San Antonio

https://qz.com/1233579/facebook-and-cambridge-analytica-worked-side-by-side-at-a-trump-campaign-office-in-san-antonio/

In fact, Facebook and Cambridge Analytica worked side-by-side for the 2016 Donald Trump campaign at its digital operation in San Antonio, Texas—a year after the tech giant discovered that Cambridge Analytica had access to the Facebook users’ data in violation of the company’s policies. In a 2017 BBC report, Therese Wong, a “digital guru” for the Trump campaign walks journalist Jamie Bartlett through the San Antonio office, showing him the room out of which Cambridge Analytica operated—”the brain” of the operation, she says. Nearby were desks where Facebook employees sat embedded with the Trump campaign.

Wong said in the video that people from Google, YouTube, and Facebook were the campaign’s “hands-on partners” in helping utilize their platforms. “When you’re pumping in millions and millions of dollars to these platforms, you’re going to get white club [sic] treatment,” she said. “Without Facebook, we wouldn’t have won. I mean Facebook really and truly put us over the edge.”

[dlk]

2. Of Course, Facebook Knew About the Russians-They Can't Be Counted on to Self-Regulate

Facebook is an international platform that is begging for regulation. It is completely naive (or cynical) to think it would ever reasonable regulate itself. It exists to make as much money as possible and avoids or ignores anything that might interfere with that goal. How much damage they get away with depends on how soon they are regulated. It's up to us to make our elected representatives know the importance of reasonable regulation for Facebook and other social media platforms.

[footsinmymouths]

3. Digital Marketing teams aren't surprised

The scope, scale and ease of access to massive amounts of "marketing" information gathered by Facebook enabled groups is stunning, but sadly not surprising to those working in digital marketing.

[2naSalit]

4. IIRC...

I recall watching av video posted here during the summer that illustrated how the first major stockholder in FB was arusian oligarch very closely connected to the poot.

FB has been a foreign operative for a long time, folks. I never signed up and I demand that those who know or have heard of me NEVER post my name or image on that fucking thing.

I have always had ill feelings about the site and how it functions, I feel vindicated.

[Wellstone ruled]

5. Do recall the same.

Not being tech savvy ,just said what the heck is this and forgot about it. Our Techie Grand Kid picked up on this a commented,this will come back in spades latter this year was his comment.

[2naSalit]

6. Indeed..

I thought I bookmarked the OP but I can't find it now. I'd like to find it again because it explains the whole mess.

[Wellstone ruled]

7. Funny

how something as subtle as story gets over looked and that might be the key to a much larger historic event that changes the Political Landscape for decades.

Personally,I blame our Fourth Estate for this who damn mess. When a sixteen year old understands the cause and probable effects,what can one say.

[neohippie]

8. maybe you are thinking about this guy

Yuri Milner who's got ties to Russian mobsters

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/05/world/yuri-milner-facebook-twitter-russia.html


https://www.wired.com/2011/10/mf_milner/

Yuri Milner and Silicon Valley

https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/politics/item/3286-facebook-are-you-interfacing-with-the-russian-mafia--kgb

Russian Mafia

[2naSalit]

9. Thank you.

Those are more in-depth than the video I was referring to and they certainly spell it out!

[Power 2 the People]

10. Facebook should be shut down. Too many lies and instances of malfeasance.

[olddad56]

11. Fuck Facebook. Zuckerberg is a traitor.

[Scurrilous]

12. K&R