The race is on to probe Facebook’s massive data scandal

By Martin Giles

March 20, 2018

The social network and authorities both want to find out what happened to data shared with Cambridge Analytica.

The news: Facebook has engaged forensic auditors to examine whether Cambridge Analytica (CA) kept data about millions of Facebook users gleaned from an academic study. CA has said it will comply with the investigation.

Meanwhile: UK officials are seeking a warrant to enter CA’s headquarters as part of their own probe, and they say Facebook should halt its audit over fears of prejudicing the investigation. The EU is also planning a separate probe, and sources tell Bloomberg that the US Federal Trade Commission is already working on one too.

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There’s more: The scandal wiped $37 billion off Facebook’s market cap on March 20, and rumors swirled that the company’s chief security officer would soon be leaving.

And more: CA’s chief executive, Alexander Nix (pictured), was recorded by undercover TV reporters in the UK boasting about how the firm could use spies and sex scandals to influence the outcome of elections.

Data fallout: Researchers fear the scandal will make Facebook less willing to share data. That could make it harder to understand how it’s shaping all our lives.

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