Hacker News Reader

Comment by HillaryBriss | Hacker News Reader

i thought that the data flow was:

1. FB users took a personality survey conducted by some researchers at Cambridge University.

2. Then one of those researchers sold the data they'd collected on FB users to the newly formed Cambridge Analytica.

3. The Trump campaign employed CA and CA used this data to directly message FB users who'd completed the personality survey

At some point, FB learned of this unapproved resale of this data and requested that CA delete the data set. But CA did not delete the data set.

Assuming I have the story right, what I don't quite get is: why didn't FB start aggressively suing people who'd taken this data and misused it? FB could have started with a lawsuit against the researcher who sold the data in the first place.

View on HN

CA told Facebook that they did delete the data set. FB (if you believe their timeline) only discovered they lied when the scandal started circulating in the news.

Thanks for additional info and clarification.

So ... what about now? Wouldn't it be a good move for FB to start taking legal action against CA, the survey group, and anyone in sight in order to create the impression that they want to protect user data?

I'm thinking of corporations like Oracle, Microsoft, and Disney (very litigious corporations) -- isn't this a good time for FB to start acting more like those companies?

Facebook sent forensic auditors to investigate CA. There was a general public perception that this was sketchy (what if they're really trying to destroy evidence implicating themselves?), and they were asked to stand down by British law enforcement.

Facebook's position is that they should have done more to stop companies like CA from being in a position to abuse user data - and implicitly, that there's no need for strong regulations to make them do it. Suing everyone in sight would make it seem like they're trying to create a narrative where they did nothing wrong.

The survey was a decoy. By taking the survey, you got a screen that asked if you wanted to allow the survey to have access to your profile. If you said yes, it got all of your data from your facebook account, including all of the data on your friends that your account has access to. The survey itself was basically a trojan horse and irrelevant.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com