Theory of Knowledge - Course Companion for Students Marija Uzunova Dang Arvin Singh Uzunov Dang

of these profiles contained thousands of
each
points. SCL marketing material claimed
data
they had developed sophisticated analytical
that
in order to use these huge data sets to sway
tools
Wigmore, the communications director
Andy
Leave.eu—one of the two major campaign
of
supporting the UK’s withdrawal from the
groups
Union (EU)—has said that Cambridge
European
assisted his group because of the
Analytica
interests of their investors. The Leave.
shared
campaign used social media data and AI
eu
target voters with highly individualized
to
of different
advertisements—“thousands
of advertisements”—depending on their
versions
according to Cadallawar (2017).
personalities,
Banks, founder of the organization Leave.
Arron
would later state that Cambridge Analytica’s
eu,
AI won the referendum for those
world-class
Luntz, American pollster, reacting after the
Frank
US Presidential election results commented
2016
one saw it coming. The public polls, the experts,
No
the pundits: just about everybody got it wrong.
and
were wrong-footed because they didn’t
They
who was going to turn out and vote.
understand
for Cambridge Analytica … They gured out
Except
to win. There are no longer any experts except
how
observers have since cast doubt on such
Several
as overstating Cambridge Analytica’s
claims
and influence. But how did Cambridge
success
obtain all its data? For the US
Analytica
a sizeable amount came via Aleksandr
market,
an assistant professor formerly at the
Kogan,
Psychometric Centre. He developed
Cambridge
app called This Is Your Digital Life that
an
psychometric quizzes to Facebook
provided
in exchange for their results and data, and
users
data of their friends. In the summer of 2014,
the
200,000 people used his app, providing
over
30 million user records for Cambridge
over
Analytica.
an interview on BBC Radio 4 in March
In
Kogan said that he had been used as
2018,
scapegoat, maintaining that Cambridge
a
had approached him, written the
Analytica
of service for the app and told him his use
terms
Facebook data was legal and appropriate. He
of
led to believe that thousands, if not tens of
was
of apps were exploiting their users’
thousands,
in the same way. He also claimed he had
data
profited from this collaboration personally
not
that the money he received was mostly
and
to pay the participants—each participant
used
generally, Kogan raised concerns
More
the social networking business model.
about
Analytica had allegedly used
Cambridge
Facebook data for micro-targeting, but
people’s
were other platforms and social networks
so
Twitter and Instagram, whose profits
like
derive from advertising. When someone
mostly
an account, they essentially sign an
creates
to be sold to advertisers for microtargeting
agreement
in exchange for access to a desirable
that costs large amounts of time,
product
and money to run.
expertise
the effectiveness of its political microtargeting,
about
claims that fuelled a hysteria following
scandal that people were being manipulated
the
vote for the “wrong” outcomes in a post-truth
to
IV. Ethics
IV. Ethics
voting patterns (Mayer 2017).
being paid between $3 and $4.
wishing to leave the EU (Cadwalladr 2017).
as follows.
Users
United States
70.6 millions
1.2
Philippines
Indonesia
1.1
Cambridge Analytica.
1.1
United Kingdom
0.79
(Luntz quoted in Wood 2016)
Mexico
0.62
Canada
India
0.56
0.44
Brazil
Vietnam
0.43
Australia
0.31
Figure 2.4
Where Cambridge Analytica improperly accessed
Facebook user data, according to www.theatlas.com
Cambridge Analytica made extravagant claims
53