The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire Edition 37: June/July 2018 | Page 27

TECHNOLOGY
Cambridge Analytica
What would happen if tech was used for good?
by Nathan Baranowski, ojo solutions
By now, everyone has heard of the Cambridge Analytica scandal – the marketing
company that abused Facebook’s app functionality to steal the data of millions.
The firm combined data mining and analysis
with a view to influence the actions of those
it targeted. While this is fairly standard
marketing behaviour, the key issues were the
empirical lack of consent from those involved,
the abuse of privileges, and the ultimate use
of the data. While people understand their
data will be used to sell them certain services,
and indeed accept it as a foregone conclusion
at this point, using personal information to
sway elections is a step too far.
Such was the public outcry that
Cambridge Analytica considered a rebrand
to Emerdata… a move rejected by parent
company founder Nigel Oakes.
All in all, the issues with Cambridge
Analytica have left a bad taste in the mouth
of the business