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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTed Cruz using firm that harvested data on millions of unwitting Facebook users
Ted Cruzs presidential campaign is using psychological data based on research spanning tens of millions of Facebook users, harvested largely without their permission, to boost his surging White House run and gain an edge over Donald Trump and other Republican rivals, the Guardian can reveal.
A little-known data company, now embedded within Cruzs campaign and indirectly financed by his primary billionaire benefactor, paid researchers at Cambridge University to gather detailed psychological profiles about the US electorate using a massive pool of mainly unwitting US Facebook users built with an online survey.
As part of an aggressive new voter-targeting operation, Cambridge Analytica financially supported by reclusive hedge fund magnate and leading Republican donor Robert Mercer is now using so-called psychographic profiles of US citizens in order to help win Cruz votes, despite earlier concerns and red flags from potential survey-takers.
Documents seen by the Guardian have uncovered longstanding ethical and privacy issues about the way academics hoovered up personal data by accessing a vast set of US Facebook profiles, in order to build sophisticated models of users personalities without their knowledge.
A little-known data company, now embedded within Cruzs campaign and indirectly financed by his primary billionaire benefactor, paid researchers at Cambridge University to gather detailed psychological profiles about the US electorate using a massive pool of mainly unwitting US Facebook users built with an online survey.
As part of an aggressive new voter-targeting operation, Cambridge Analytica financially supported by reclusive hedge fund magnate and leading Republican donor Robert Mercer is now using so-called psychographic profiles of US citizens in order to help win Cruz votes, despite earlier concerns and red flags from potential survey-takers.
Documents seen by the Guardian have uncovered longstanding ethical and privacy issues about the way academics hoovered up personal data by accessing a vast set of US Facebook profiles, in order to build sophisticated models of users personalities without their knowledge.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/11/senator-ted-cruz-president-campaign-facebook-user-data
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Ted Cruz using firm that harvested data on millions of unwitting Facebook users (Original Post)
DesertRat
Dec 2015
OP
Cruz opposes harvesting Americans' private data for national security purposes
DesertRat
Dec 2015
#3
saltpoint
(50,986 posts)1. Ted Cruz is the guy who is calling
the babysitter from inside the house.
Dude's a total creep show.
cheapdate
(3,811 posts)2. If accurate, my psychological profile
would indicate that any effort by Ted Cruz to win my vote is laughably absurd.
DesertRat
(27,995 posts)3. Cruz opposes harvesting Americans' private data for national security purposes
LiberalEsto
(22,845 posts)4. He can harvest my data right here:
DesertRat
(27,995 posts)5. Love it
bdwker
(435 posts)6. Hypocritical scuzzo.