Amid Facebook Data Scandal, Israeli Cyberprivacy Leaders Say Preventative Tech Is Key To Privacy Protection
“This article was re-published with permission from NoCamels.com – Israeli Innovation News.
Facebook has been dominating headlines over the past few weeks as the unfolding privacy breach involving some 50 million users of the social media giant allegedly masterminded by British data mining firm Cambridge Analytica has prompted investigations by data protection authorities in Israel, the US and the UK.
The developing scandal has sparked questions about the role of Israeli companies and former Israeli spies said to be involved in Cambridge Analytica’s information-gathering methods, and has once again brought to light data privacy concerns amounting to a fervent #DeleteFacebook campaign across social media and slew of urgent posts instructing users on how to determine what information Facebook has on them (a whole lot) and how to scale that back.
The affair began with media exposés in the New York Times and the UK daily the Guardian earlier this month, detailing Cambridge Analytica’s business practices, provided in part by a former employee and whistleblower Christopher Wylie, and the firm’s connection to the presidential campaign of now-US president Donald Trump and the Brexit campaign. The company, partly owned by major Trump supporter and donor Robert Mercer, was allegedly hired by the campaign to build targeted ads and potentially influence political opinion during the 2016 elections, using personal data harvested through a personality quiz on Facebook developed by Cambridge data scientist Aleksandr Kogan.
Photo via Tumisu, Pixabay
A subsequent report by the UK’s Channel 4 featuring hidden camera footage showed Cambridge Analytica executives, including CEO Alexander Nix, as they described uncouth company practices to an undercover reporter posing as a potential customer. Company practices included bribery stings, prostitutes, and the use of Israeli companies and former Israeli spies to gather intelligence and information about voters. Israeli hackers also reportedly offered Cambridge Analytica hacked emails of politicians in Nigeria and the Caribbean island of St Kitts and Nevis who are now heads of state.
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