According to the U.K.’s Channel 4, which previously obtained footage of suspended Cambridge Analytica CEO Alexander Nix bragging about trying to entrap politicians, Facebook data on thousands of Americans obtained by the company is still circulating. That’s because, according to the findings of a new investigation conducted by the outlet, Cambridge Analytica’s previous claim that any and all data is possessed that was derived from Facebook “had been deleted” isn’t entirely true. Facebook has also taken steps to combat the scandal, suggesting it had “destroyed” everything relating to the matter.
As Channel 4 reports, however, a source from within the company itself claims that’s not the case:
The cache of campaign data from a Cambridge Analytica source, details 136,000 individuals in the US state of Colorado, along with each person’s personality and psychological profile.
The data, which dates from 2014, was used by Cambridge Analytica to target specific messages at residents who would be most susceptible to them.
Along with a similar cache of data containing personal information from Facebook users in Oregon, Channel 4 contends “copies of the Facebook-derived data still exist” out there. This “raises questions about who still has them,” and why. Per the outlet’s sources, the Colorado data was used by Republicans there to target potential voters. It was also allegedly used by incoming National Security Adviser John Bolton’s Super PAC, officially titled The John Bolton Super PAC.
(Via Channel 4)