Cambridge Analytica Associate Severs Mexico Ties After Scandal

[Judi Lynn]

By Nacha Cattan
March 22, 2018, 8:17 AM CDT
Firm had joined with Mexico phone app last year to mine data
Cambridge hoped to use the data to help presidential candidate

A Latin American mobile app that Cambridge Analytica had hoped to use to mine data for Mexican presidential campaigns has severed ties with the embattled political-advertising firm after the Facebook Inc. data scandal erupted.

Pig.gi, which gives 1.2 million users in Mexico and Colombia free airtime and data in exchange for watching ads and taking surveys, says it’s never worked on a political campaign with Cambridge. The startup did share results on two election polls and occasional aggregated data on non-political preferences, but said it does so with other partners as well.

“In light of the recent allegations, we have taken steps to formally, completely end any kind of commercial relationship with them,” Pig.gi founder and Chief Executive Officer Joel Phillips told Bloomberg. “Obviously, if we could look back and see how this would progress, we would have said ‘no, this is probably not the best people to take money from.’”

The data firm that helped elect U.S. President Donald Trump is caught up in investigations in several countries after allegedly obtaining the private data of 50 million Facebook users, triggering a backlash from consumers around the globe. The furor spread to Mexico when Cambridge executives bragged to hidden cameras from Britain’s Channel 4 that they operated in the country.

More:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-22/cambridge-analytica-associate-severs-mexico-ties-after-scandal