Twitter sold data public tweets to Cambridge Analytica vendor
In 2015, Twitter sold data to Aleksandr Kogan, the researcher who resold Facebook data to Cambridge Analytica. According to Twitter, Kogan did not abuse the data as it did with Facebook.
Kogan wanted access to the database of public tweets that users posted between December 2014 and April 2015, reports Bloomberg . Kogan also got that data. The data contains only public tweets and possibly location data, but no information about dm’s and other sensitive personal data, says Twitter.
It is unknown where Kogan wanted to use the data. The researcher obtained access to data from up to 87 million Facebook users by creating a quiz requesting permission to store data from users and their contacts. Hundreds of thousands of people allowed that.
It is possible that Kogan wanted to supply a more complete dataset, for example to Cambridge Analytica, by linking information from Facebook and Twitter. Kogan and Cambridge Analytics have not yet responded to Twitter’s confirmation. Cambridge Analytica used the information to deliver more targeted ads to Facebook users during elections.
It is unknown where Kogan wanted to use the data. The researcher obtained access to data from up to 87 million Facebook users by creating a quiz requesting permission to store data from users and their contacts. Hundreds of thousands of people allowed that.
It is possible that Kogan wanted to supply a more complete dataset, for example to Cambridge Analytica, by linking information from Facebook and Twitter. Kogan and Cambridge Analytics have not yet responded to Twitter’s confirmation. Cambridge Analytica used the information to deliver more targeted ads to Facebook users during elections.