Cambridge Analytica whistleblower used same Facebook dataset for own startup
I haven&#x27;t been following this stuff super closely, but hasn&#x27;t there been ongoing counternarrative of how CA data analysis and its 50 million profiles may not have been very useful, period? Because there&#x27;s a concurrent (and legitimate) narrative of Facebook&#x27;s questionable data practices, I&#x27;ve been wondering whether CA has been an overhyped antagonist in our media&#x27;s rush to find the true villains.<p>Yesterday Drudge Report (still one of our biggest news drivers) had a headline [A] that almost made my eyes roll through the back of my head. It was &quot;WHISTLEBLOWER: FACEBOOK CAN HEAR YOU!&quot; But the linked story [B] contained nothing more than Wylie speculating how it was physically possible for Facebook (and other apps) to do this, but they probably weren&#x27;t, but if they <i>were</i>, it could lead into some bad shit or something.<p>Yeah, Wylie can&#x27;t control what linkbaiters write about him. Or what politicians ask him in a public hearing. But because he was a whistleblower about CA&#x27;s abuse of FB&#x27;s data, he&#x27;s been considered an expert&#x2F;whistleblower in domains far beyond what he actually has experience in. Being a good data analyst and having a bunch of FB scraped data is still not enough to remotely guarantee success in the startup scene.<p>In terms of the election, what&#x27;s the most substantive discussion&#x2F;proof that CA and its magic data was any more a game changer than, say, Brad Pascale [0]? And I also haven&#x27;t read out CA&#x27;s insights were a gamechanger in boosting the Russians&#x27; alleged propaganda and fake news bots schemes. I haven&#x27;t yet read a better reporter on this angle than the New Yorker&#x27;s Adrian Chen, and his relative reluctance to blame big data&#x2F;bot schemes has perhaps made me too skeptical every time I read media stories about CA&#x27;s magical mind-bending dataset [1].<p>[A] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;pbs.twimg.com&#x2F;media&#x2F;DZVzHctU8AAZBxa.jpg:large" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;pbs.twimg.com&#x2F;media&#x2F;DZVzHctU8AAZBxa.jpg:large</a><p>[B] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;web.archive.org&#x2F;web&#x2F;20180328111429&#x2F;https:&#x2F;&#x2F;pjmedia.com&#x2F;trending&#x2F;cambridge-analytica-whistleblower-facebook-may-listening-home-work&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;web.archive.org&#x2F;web&#x2F;20180328111429&#x2F;https:&#x2F;&#x2F;pjmedia.co...</a><p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.washingtonpost.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;politics&#x2F;wp&#x2F;2018&#x2F;02&#x2F;27&#x2F;trumps-facebook-advertising-advantage-explained&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.washingtonpost.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;politics&#x2F;wp&#x2F;2018&#x2F;02&#x2F;27&#x2F;t...</a><p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.newyorker.com&#x2F;tech&#x2F;elements&#x2F;a-so-called-experts-uneasy-dive-into-the-trump-russia-frenzy" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.newyorker.com&#x2F;tech&#x2F;elements&#x2F;a-so-called-experts-...</a>