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Cambridge Analytica Suspends C.E.O. Over Facebook Data Scandal Cambridge Analytica Suspends C.E.O. Amid Facebook Data Scandal
(35 minutes later)
Cambridge Analytica, the political data firm with ties to President Trump’s 2016 campaign, suspended its chief executive, Alexander Nix, on Tuesday, following the furor over the access it gained to private information on more than 50 million Facebook users. The firm offered tools that could identify the personalities of American voters and influence their behavior. Cambridge Analytica, the political data firm with ties to President Trump’s 2016 campaign, suspended its chief executive, Alexander Nix, on Tuesday, amid a furor over the access it gained to private information on more than 50 million Facebook users.
On Monday, a British television news report cast it in a harsher light, showing video of Cambridge Analytica executives offering to entrap politicians. The decision came after a television broadcast in which Mr. Nix was recorded suggesting unseemly practices to influence foreign elections.
Sitting in a hotel bar, Mr. Nix suggested ideas for a prospective client looking for help in a foreign election. The firm could send an attractive woman to seduce a rival candidate and secretly videotape the encounter, Mr. Nix said, or send someone posing as a wealthy land developer to pass a bribe. The company, founded by Stephen K. Bannon and Robert Mercer, a wealthy Republican donor who has put at least $15 million into it, offered tools that could identify the personalities of American voters and influence their behavior.
So-called psychographic modeling techniques, which were built in part with the data harvested from Facebook, underpinned the company’s work for the Trump campaign in 2016. Mr. Nix once called the practice “our secret sauce,” though some have questioned its effectiveness.
In a joint investigation published online on Saturday, The New York Times and The Observer of London detailed the company’s acquisition and use of the Facebook data. On Monday, a British television news report also cast the company in a harsh light, showing video of Cambridge Analytica executives offering to entrap politicians.
In the video, Mr. Nix, sitting in a hotel bar, suggested ideas for a prospective client looking for help in a foreign election. The firm could send an attractive woman to seduce a rival candidate and secretly videotape the encounter, Mr. Nix said, or send someone posing as a wealthy land developer to pass a bribe.
“We have a long history of working behind the scenes,” Mr. Nix said.“We have a long history of working behind the scenes,” Mr. Nix said.
The prospective client, though, was actually a reporter from Channel 4 News in Britain, and the encounter was secretly filmed as part of a monthslong investigation into Cambridge Analytica.The prospective client, though, was actually a reporter from Channel 4 News in Britain, and the encounter was secretly filmed as part of a monthslong investigation into Cambridge Analytica.
The results of Channel 4’s work were broadcast in Britain on Monday, days after reports in The New York Times and The Observer of London that the firm had harvested the data from more than 50 million Facebook profiles in its bid to develop techniques for predicting voter behavior.The results of Channel 4’s work were broadcast in Britain on Monday, days after reports in The New York Times and The Observer of London that the firm had harvested the data from more than 50 million Facebook profiles in its bid to develop techniques for predicting voter behavior.
The Federal Trade Commission announced on Tuesday that it was investigating the company over its data practices. On Tuesday, Damian Collins, the chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee of the House of Commons, called on Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, to give evidence in the British Parliament.
The weekend’s reports about the data misuse have prompted calls from lawmakers in Britain and the United States for renewed scrutiny of Facebook, and at least two American state prosecutors have said they are looking into the misuse of data by Cambridge Analytica. In a letter, Mr. Collins said that previous answers from Facebook officials about the misuse of data had been “misleading” to the committee.
“In the view of the board, Mr. Nix’s recent comments secretly recorded by Channel 4 and other allegations do not represent the values or operations of the firm and his suspension reflects the seriousness with which we view this violation,” the company said in a statement. “It is now time to hear from a senior Facebook executive with the sufficient authority to give an accurate account of this catastrophic failure of process,” the letter said, adding, “I hope that this representative will be you.”
The company said it had asked Alexander Tayler, its chief data officer, “to serve as acting C.E.O. while an independent investigation is launched to review those comments and allegations.” The company also said it had hired a lawyer, Julian Malins, “to lead this investigation, the findings of which the board will share publicly in due course.” In the United States on Tuesday, the Federal Trade Commission announced an investigation into whether Facebook violated an agreement on data privacy in the episode. At least two American state prosecutors have also said they are looking into the misuse of data by Cambridge Analytica.
Announcing the chief executive’s suspension, the company said in a statement that “in the view of the board, Mr. Nix’s recent comments secretly recorded by Channel 4 and other allegations do not represent the values or operations of the firm and his suspension reflects the seriousness with which we view this violation.”
The company said it had asked Alexander Tayler, its chief data officer, “to serve as acting C.E.O. while an independent investigation is launched to review those comments and allegations.”
The company also said it had hired a lawyer, Julian Malins, “to lead this investigation, the findings of which the board will share publicly in due course.”
It added: “The board will be monitoring the situation closely, working closely with Dr. Tayler, to ensure that Cambridge Analytica, in all of its operations, represents the firm’s values and delivers the highest-quality service to its clients.”It added: “The board will be monitoring the situation closely, working closely with Dr. Tayler, to ensure that Cambridge Analytica, in all of its operations, represents the firm’s values and delivers the highest-quality service to its clients.”
Mr. Tayler trained as a chemical engineer and joined Cambridge Analytica in 2014 as its lead data scientist, according to his LinkedIn profile.