Fedica (@fedica.com)

Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal

The data was collected through an app called "This Is Your Digital Life", developed by data scientist Aleksandr Kogan and his company Global Science Research in 2013.[2] The app consisted of a series of questions to build psychological profiles on users, and collected the personal data of the users' Facebook friends via Facebook's Open Graph platform.[2] The app harvested the data of up to 87 million Facebook profiles.[2] Cambridge Analytica used the data to analytically assist the 2016 presidential campaigns of Ted Cruz and Donald Trump.[3][4] Cambridge Analytica was also widely accused of interfering with the Brexit referendum, although the official investigation recognised that the company was not involved "beyond some initial enquiries" and that "no significant breaches" took place.[5][6]

Facebook Data Privacy Scandal: A Cheat Sheet - TechRepublic

Read about the saga of Facebook's failures in ensuring privacy for user data, including how it relates to Cambridge Analytica, the GDPR, the Brexit campaign, and the 2016 US presidential election.

The Digital Loophole: 11th International Conference on Information Systems Security and Privacy, ICISSP 2025

Social media platforms are an integral part of daily life for nearly five billion people worldwide. However, the growing presence of underage users on these platforms raises significant concerns regarding children’s exposure to harmful content and its impact on their mental health. This paper examines the effectiveness of age verification measures implemented on leading platforms Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and X. We evaluate the age verification processes required for account creation by simulating the registration steps for minors on these platforms. We also compare these methods to best practices in online age assurance in finance, betting and public transportation sectors. IEEE provides a standard for evaluating the age assurance of a platform or service. Our study benchmarks each platform’s approach against the IEEE standard for robustness. Our research identifies gaps that allow underage users to easily bypass existing age restrictions, with particular practices such as allowing disposable emails and basic browser refreshes further weakening self-declared age checks. The findings highlight the need for more robust age verification measures by social media applications to support their stated age limit policies. This work emphasises the urgent need for stronger and more reliable age verification methods to align the digital age of consent across EU member states and beyond with the minimum age requirements on social media.

Facebook-Cambridge Analytica: A timeline of the data hijacking scandal

Facebook is desperately trying to mend its damaged reputation following the continued fallout of a massive data scandal.

Social media companies are fighting the 'age verification trap' as collecting biometrics on kids violates privacy rights | Fortune

Big Social is reaching its Big Tobacco moment as it regulations intensify and social media companies look to implement age verification methods on its platforms.

Hack of Age Verification Company Shows Privacy Danger of Social Media

We’ve said it before: online age verification is incompatible with privacy. Companies responsible for storing or processing sensitive documents like drivers’ licenses are likely to encounter data

Analytics on the Open Social Web • RocheBit

I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about analytics on the open social web. I would love to hear how others approach this topic, and share my own perspective.

Social Media Analytics and Publishing - Fedica

Fedica is an all-in-one Data-driven publishing, follower analysis, listening and analytics platform for social media.

Social Media Analysis - Signup

Plans for everyone! Fedica's free plan allows you to post to many platforms with 1 click, paid plans to supercharge your social media game! Map followers by country, state or city What followers are talking about now

What to Know About the E.U.’s New Age Verification App for Social Media

The E.U.’s new age verification app aims to address concerns raised by tech platforms around privacy and enforcement.

Facebook may stop the data leaks, but it’s too late: Cambridge Analytica’s models live on

Long after the training data has been deleted, the models can continue being improved and used to influence future voters.

Watch The Great Hack | Netflix Official Site

Explore how a data company named Cambridge Analytica came to symbolize the dark side of social media in the wake of the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Age Verification and Age Gating: Resource Hub

Age verification (or age-gating) laws generally require online services to check, estimate, or verify all users’ ages—often through invasive tools like ID checks, biometric scans, or other dubious

Apps - Social Media Lab

As part of our work, the Lab develops public-facing information-integrity dashboards, along with research apps and tools, to support social science research on online participation and communities. Our apps and tools are used by thousands of students, educators and researchers worldwide each year. If you are interested in developing a custom version of any of […]

Resist ‘dangerous and socially unacceptable’ age checks for social media, scientists warn

Computer scientists are campaigning against the global march toward age checks online.