Video: A violation of trust: Where Facebook and Cambridge Analytica went wrong
When salacious tales of Cambridge Analytica's activities[1] emerged in 2018, we thought the company was finished. The many on-air discussions of illegal activities, law enforcement warrants, legal action threats from partners, and questionable ethics had appeared to doom them. We then saw multiple suspensions and resignations, and on May 2, 2018 Cambridge Analytica announced it would file for bankruptcy. For a brief moment, it seemed like the world was a better place: The "good team" had won, the evil doers were vanquished, and the world was moving on.
Read also: Facebook: Cambridge Analytica took a lot more data than first thought[2]
Of course, this wasn't actually the case. Instead...
21ST CENTURY MONSTERS ARE FILING PAPERWORK AS CORPORATIONS
The victory celebration was short-lived. On the heels of the bankruptcy news, we learned that Emerdata -- a company founded in 2017 -- was using the same address as Cambridge Analytica's parent company SCL. So, in continuing proof that we might be living in the darkest timeline possible, Emerdata is listing the chairman of Frontier Services Group as one of its directors, and his lineage dates back to Blackwater. Is this a nod to the rebranding efforts of the infamous private security firm? Does Emerdata want you to forget about its evil past? Most definitely yes. Not only is Cambridge Analytica rising from the dead (like a zombie), it's rising with enhanced predator capabilities (like a vampire). A vampire with legal paperwork and tax documentation prepared and filed, that is.
WE'RE WITNESSING THE DANGER OF THE SCARY DATA LIFECYCLE
When you collect data, and then build platforms and business models that monetize that data, you risk losing control