Cambridge Analytica whistleblower: 'We spent $1m harvesting millions of Facebook profiles'

Christopher Wylie, who worked for data firm Cambridge Analytica, reveals how personal information was taken without authorisation in early 2014 to build a system that could profile individual US voters in order to target them with personalised political advertisements.
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At the time the company was owned by the hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer, and headed at the time by Donald Trump’s key adviser, Steve Bannon. Its CEO is Alexander Nix
How Cambridge Analytica turned Facebook ‘likes’ into a lucrative political tool ► www.theguardian.com/technolog...
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#CambridgeAnalytica #Facebook #AlexanderNix #SteveBannon #DonaldTrump #ChrisWylie #RobertMercer

[@mikehenderson560]

As a friend said to me years ago: "The less that people know about you, the better off you are". There's nothing wrong with being invisible. In today's world, you have to be vigilant about protecting your personal space.

[@andrewosborn4338]

That's simply not possible today with the internet, they know who you are, where you are and there's nothing you can do about it other than go off the grid

[@norpriest521]

@@andrewosborn4338 That comment you replied to was from 3 years ago. I bet he or she is dead. Do not reply to dead comments.

[@g2mcab]

@@norpriest521 people don't get killed for commenting

[@NickSBailey]

@@norpriest521 I'll happily comment to threads that are 20+ years old, even if the person is dead the future isn't yet

[@norpriest521]

@@NickSBailey tf

[@xblueskiesburningx]

“Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing.” ― George Orwell, 1984

[@marimiller9937]

Nacho R oh Wow 😳

[@patriciakedeni]

kinda ironic that a company that is about bringing people together through connection and shared experience is actually dividing and fragmenting and molding them all for money.

[@jonathantan2469]

There's a good book that's been recommended to me. It's called 'The Filter Bubble' by Eli Pariser. When I first read the online reviews in 2012 a year after the book came out, many were pretty much negative. The author was derided as a 'technophobe', 'luddite', and 'sceptic' for not thinking that Google & FB will "make the world a better place". Time has been kinder to the book though...

[@ourthoughtsaboutlife8673]

@@jonathantan2469 Thanx i Will Look into iT✌🙏

[@sweetlobster3939]

ok boomer

[@andreavanda4722]

It's the satanic upside down.

[@DiandraStarShine]

no, you're confused: the *users* of Facebook are the PRODUCT. the "bringing people together," etc. part is just a rouse, the *BAIT.* in order to get people to be disarmed, so they'll be relaxed and willing to give up much of their personal data. that's all it has EVER been about for Facebook's founder and his executives - that and, the money, of course. because *remember,* it's a *MULTI-BILLIONS* of dollar$ *corporation.*

[@haleIrwinG]

No wonder Facebook started to "filtered out comments" on certain threads. They only show you comments you "need" to see based on the data they get from you.

[@mech5]

A long time ago I pursued jobs in advertising. I bailed when I realized it was all about manipulation as opposed to presenting the strengths of a product. There are so many parallels with politics.

[@slovokia]

Politics has become recursive mindfucking.

[@danhoelck6270]

When was it not?

[@slovokia]

It was harder to mindfuck people when you couldn’t individually tell every person what they wanted to hear without obviously contradicting what you told another person. The internet removes that obstacle.

[@rumfordc]

+slovokia that's a good point

[@shanecoleman5309]

It's not become anything. As long as there have been mass media they've been used almost exclusively to sell political agendas. This is just a product of those media becoming more sophisticated.

[@sanakasraoui4280]

I feel like I'm watching an episode of "Black Mirror"

[@andreapicco4003]

Instead of closing our FB accounts, we should fill them with content that diverges, slowly but steadily, from what we really are and from the ideas that we care about. Then, all these apps would harvest nothing but nonsense or, at least, they would have to filter through huge noise data.

[@tigressnsnow]

THEY just read your comment.........maybe close your Internet, stop using your cell phone and your credit cards. Stop talking to everyone or anyone and then and only then may you be subject to NO ARTIFICIAL INFLUENCES. However to be on the safe side, GET OFF THE GRID so no one can track you. Accept the age we live in or CHANGE IT.

[@selah71]

Other ideas: Boycott the advertisers. If needed, the entire population go on strike and use no cell phones or computers. I know businesses can't do so but the general population can!

[@MrBrindleStyle]

@goduskychris Chris Godusky hence 'trance' and the lack of poetry

[@auroracontreras4662]

It works.

[@Ashphinchtersayswhat]

Just create many online versions of you. All in different directions..so to speak. 30 versions of you with all different ideals and likes

[@Riderules73]

Why watch Black Mirror if we have this already!

[@longpp2289]

“We risk fragmenting society” man if only he knew

[@optimize.]

Excellent interview and deep, deep respect for this man's courage to come out about this.

[@PowaPop]

NSA to Cambridge Analytica.... hold my beer

[@msergio0293]

tofolux lol

[@tommyhalili3975]

Too real

[@pablorages1241]

Facebook gave the Obama campaign access to their ENTIRE DATABASE OF USERS during his election campaign this is a drop in the ocean in comparison !

[@pablorages1241]

@Tobias Rieper ...no it's a fact ... Obamas campaign was offered facebooks entire database

[@johnnyzito]

I signed off facebook two months ago and I'm never going back. It's crazy that those annoying personality quizzes really did turn out to be the downfall of humanity.

[@icinfin117]

You haven't watched the full video/read the article if you think this is about personality quizzes being 'the downfall of humanity'.

[@Erminestreet]

Thats it. I'm closing my Facebook account

[@darganx]

Unicum I haven't used my Facebook in around 5 years for reasons like this.

[@ChrisEckman]

Won't do you too much good. Facebook has tracking pixels across the internet. They track every site you go to, what you purchase, etc.

[@kevinscales]

Chris Eckman - If you are signed in on Facebook they do

[@larkhill2119]

Try Saying a random keyword something you would never buy on Skype and watch the adverts pop up the next day.

[@bluehorseshoe444]

Unfriend all your contacts first.

[@Cecil_Augus]

How this man and all those involved *are not locked in jail just comes to show how our society is rotten to the core*

[@hellovicki6779]

I find this totally unethical. Then I thought on it and can see that it has been occurring already, particularly where politics is concerned. It is just a far more sophisticated means of targeted advertising. But, I also believe advertising is unethical and should be closely regulated. I have never had a facebook account, never appealed to me. I watch youtube and treat it as the new television.

[@rickgrimesthewise5830]

@pedrolion4156 There are several current whistleblowers, such Christopher Whylie or Brittany Kaiser who didn't see the potential threat in their work or in Alexander Nix' believes. I think that although they were developing softwares which led to the final voters manipulation, they shouldn't be the ones, held accountable for the whole scheme. It's rather the Ceo of Cambridge-Analytica, Alexander Nix or the Ceo of Facebook at that time who should "rot in jail".

[@von1145]

Beautiful interview, well done to all at Guardian.

[@billp4380]

The operational terms here are, "Break society and remold it,"

[@psr0459]

Bring order to chaos, but chaos first ??

[@abbyc7815]

That exact phrase sounded so familiar I'm sure I've heard it before. Either Bannon said it outright or it's some kind of alt-right 4chan campaign goal

[@Daniel121194]

The classic revolutionary mindset

[@psr0459]

@Western Questions It's the Masonic doctrine - 'Morals & Dogma'. Masons - the chosen few, making good men better, but make them bad first.

[@EyeLean5280]

"Steve Bannon saw himself as an intellectual." I love the way he put that.

[@donaldlover1132]

DKJZ Exactly. And more often, Hillary, who I'm no big fan of, but she's just irrelevant. They still talk about her every day on Faux and Friends and The Five. I just tune in to hear about Donald. I Looooove Donald!!!

[@TooManyChoices1]

EyeLean5280 And this pink-haired fairy thinks he changed the election lol.

[@EyeLean5280]

TooManyChoices1, I assume you're 13 years old, right? Your opinion is noted.

[@donaldlover1132]

TooManyChoices1 You automatically dismiss a guy with pink hair, but worship a sociopath with orange skin?

[@haroman29]

what a soy boy

[@highvibee]

It’s striking how intelligent and wise wisselblowers are.

[@KJensenStudio]

Wow, this was eye-opening! A healthy dose of skepticism indeed. I commend him for having the nerve to come forward about this, and I hope he doesn't suffer a 'mishap' because of it.

[@bluehorseshoe444]

I just unfriended all my Facebook contacts and deactivated my account.

[@newtonkitty]

I call BS

[@lockandloadlikehell]

bluehorseshoe444 I got a FR from you 12 hours ago.

[@subpoprec]

Google is just as bad.

[@MRTN13]

lol @ punching the pink out of his hair

[@hankchinaski1095]

LOL yea whatever you fruit. When you reactivate it later tonight think of me.

[@mistergrieves]

looks like an extra from the 1995 movie Hackers

[@elliottspence]

Very true haha.

[@thementalcase313]

HACK THE PLANET!!!

[@L14MA]

That guys gonna rollerblade home and play some wipeout

[@Furtivo95]

that's irrelevant.

[@TheMilenkata]

hahaha so true.

[@Cecil_Augus]

4:40 The part he was going to speak about the Mercer link to RenTech and algorithms was cut. I wonder why.

[@brendancoots]

I feel like any ethical person would have instantly recognized that what they were doing was highly unethical and problematic once they started harvesting millions of profiles. I'm sure glad Mr. Wylie came forward, but his ethics are questionable at best.

[@sha1841]

Agreed! He knew right away what they were doing had dire consequences.

[@eliasaries]

So this is the same plot as the James Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies, where a billionaire mogul attempts to sway public opinion.

[@raymeester7883]

In a way false, in a way so true it already been done i.e. George Soros.

[@Antman4656]

Elias Ben Of course because most movies are made by people who see the big picture of the system of greed and control we live in and try to purvey that to us. They literally show us how far these technologies could go to work for the Narcisists that own all the money and power. You think your free and yet you have to work most of your life. Stuck in traffic jams making money for a person higher up the chain than you and at the end of it you are more in debt than you started because everything is twice as expensive as it used to be. Welcome to the land of the real. The monetary system has you.

[@chillout4now354]

I thought that's what commercials and social media were for? Why did Hillary spend billions of dollars to run commercials on TV if not to influence voters? You wouldn't run a Donald Trump commercial during a Jay-Z concert. This is simply the left's way of trying to say they can use media to influence people but conservatives can't!

[@vianzlonomav6908]

We are in the cyberpunk fellas...

[@TheArtkaw]

See triggered MAGAtards and Trump Humpers doing what they do is always good for a laugh.

[@boogieloo1831]

FB is such scum.

[@TheChameleon2008]

True, but we need to blame the sheeps that use FB also because they are part of it.

[@bartacomuskidd775]

I think you are limiting your field of view

[@Scorpia161]

+TheChameleon2008 That raises a valid question--at what point can we expect people to be smarter, and when do we have to accept some people are just dumb or lazy in forming their own world views?

[@gdnygma490]

I agree FB is cancer, worst than the cig companies that hide the fact that smoking gives you cancer

[@litvenplayosu]

FB doesnt want them to do this. They have cut all of Cambridge Analytica's access to Facebook.

[@justiceprevails8511]

I can sincerely state that that interview was unnerving and disheartening, yet so accurate because we've witnessed evidence of our cultural deterioration as a cohesive nation of shared values.

[@brettking8663]

Kinda weird that the whistleblower is on camera but the interviewer is hiding her identity

[@drmodestoesq]

If what this guy is saying is true...Mr. Zuckerberg doesn't come off too well with the assertions or implications.

[@MaartenvanRossemLezingen]

Hmmhmh yes sophisticated sounding words uhuhhmmhm

[@themostsecretscience6409]

This week of October 4th-6th proves that Mark is terrible at thinking on his feet when under pressure about Facebook and it's data harvesting.

[@TBONESIDEOFLIFE]

when Facebook first hit the scene my thought was, "this is jumping off a cliff and remembering you don't have wings!" not a face or a book of it. slowly going to back away from youtube as well. we are human lives, not a commodity to exploit.....get it?

[@julesmpc1314]

Thank you Dude. Do not regreat it. Its hard but we all need people like you. I would help you in any way. You are not alone. We need more people like you to have decent place to live.

[@mauram687]

Ironically, Christopher Wylie did not apply his "healthy skepticism" to his job and company mission

[@d0uble_O]

He did but after he got crazy rich;)

[@mcbaws21]

d0uble _ 0 He was actually being paid way less than other people in the company. His salary was two to three times smaller than others’.

[@Kreyzy195]

Fact is: if you love your job, you're doing what you were preparing for and you're given best tools, to conduct an operation of such scale regarding your mission. You're not thinking about how those people who pay for this, are going to use your results. Waylie wasn't thinking about the political consequences or as of weapon but about whether or not this is going to work. It's the rich people behind him who weaponized his skills and from the very begining thought of data science as of way to control the world. Lesson for today: You also might be used and you wont even notice it.

[@socdemigod]

Marketing culture is poisonous.

[@Irresistance]

This is why decentralization is the answer. Everybody should be the key to their own data and the sole guardian of it.

[@lompocus]

What about when you click on a link in a website and it takes you 51 milliseconds cause ur in Nevada but it takes someone else 13 millis and that guy can only be not in Nevada and ur the only one clicking on links about Nevada.

[@zebbleganubi723]

web 3.0 cant come fast enough! facebook is actually a great example of why centralised services are a bad idea. as long as i can remember people have disliked facebook but couldnt leave either because thats where everybody else was. other services came along like google+ that genuinely worked better in some ways but never made it because it was way too much effort for most people to move all your photos, posts, friends lists etc. if things were more decentralised you would have your photos/posts/whatever stored in one place, and then if your current social network turned bad all you would have to do is sign up for something else and then give it access to your data and you would be up and running again. in the long run it would force services to try harder since everybody could leave on a whim if they didnt

[@UliaAB]

I genuinely can't imagine how decentralizing data would even work.

[@cumMan270]

And decentralization has its own consequences too.

[@astroko]

nope, people shouldnt GIVE information to stasi or facebook, or other surveillance companys if they care. otherwise. its your own fault.

[@PyroChimp75]

"You control the flow of information you control the people" Makes you wonder how 'free' the masses really are...

[@CommandoMaster]

If you post your personal info online, you are at risk of your info getting taken and used without your consent for any purpose.

[@silenussancteoracle7626]

Which is not what is happened here because they consented to give their info away.

[@lorenbooker9486]

You're missing the point of why this is a big deal. The reason this is so terrifying is not that our data has been used, or taken, but that they have been able to successfully use the metadata from our social media to spoon feed you misinformation to change your mind on a subject, not only that, it might be a website, or video, or blog that was specifically curtailed just for you, that no one else may have seen, it takes away the collective understanding of what is true or false. If everyone disagrees on how something happened because they've all read different accounts of it or seen different blogs or video's who is right? It's literally the ministry of truth out of 1984.

[@silenussancteoracle7626]

A New Perspective Films that is exactly what Obama did with his targeted campain. Also, you must be ducking joking, have you ever been on the internet? You don't need advertisments, the lefty people are far more annoying, I'm European and I already got enough about people taking about white privilege and feminist supremacy, I voted left for 20 years, I will never vote left again, and I will do whatever I can to stop all immigration.

[@judigemini178]

If you leave your house you’re at risk of getting mugged or killed by a mad man ...doesn’t make it your fault

[@romulo353]

@SMD 014 No it isn't, it's actually very hard to know something, let alone everything about anything.

[@solodiamante]

I miss my teens back in the 90s when social network required human contact and pyshical presence.

[@coolworx]

Heh... I was in my 20's in the 90's. You could actually go up to a strange woman and tell her that you thought she was beautiful... really... I swear!

[@solodiamante]

Noah Namey I miss that too.

[@msducks3397]

think of how those of us who were teens in the 60s feel. One telephone in the house (anyone remember party lines?), snail mail, three or four tv stations, and you had to meet people in places like school, church, work, PTA (or in some cases, the local Love-In).

[@jarenong]

You only liked the 90s if you were white duh.

[@ouareaugirl]

No one wants a stranger telling them they are beautiful out of the blue - at least not me, nor the women with whom I've talked about this :/ It's a slippery slope to cat calling. The last time a guy told me that I'd be prettier if I smiled, I smiled so that he'd leave me alone. However, he then looked genuinely pleased with himself, as if he thought he had been a positive influence in my day. It was incredibly pompous & infuriating :/ Like do some men honestly think we want them to compliment our bodies randomly on the street? I don't want your input. Some women might, but you can't assume all do. It's unwarranted. And how often does that work out for them, anyways? Who benefits from this? I'm sure it's worked for some men before, I just have yet to see that happen. I've only ever heard women in my life complain about this, never do they swoon while recounting such interactions.

[@DaveHammondDublin]

needs to be very careful he doesn't come into contact with any russian nerve agent that is doing the rounds in the UK at the minute

[@LtKharn]

Or to accidentally brutally stab himself in the back a couple of times.

[@bartacomuskidd775]

Dave, this is common knowledge tech going way back.. this guy is no more a threat to peoples who go looking for the news they want to hear than a biology book is to Ken Hamm.. So, you can only imagine the true skullduggery that planted Russian was into.. But.. that is a interesting thought process.. how close are we to an apparatus, where a scorned bureaucrat.. politician.. oligarch.. CEO.. could influence, _physical_ impact.. as in Direct action.. onto someone with differing ideologies.. through influence, of state.

[@woolfulrebellion]

Agree

[@xxxxOS]

They are trying to blame US/UK corruption on Russia. Russia didn't poison anyone in the UK..just like Assad didn't gas his own people, Afghanistan didn't do 9/11 and Iraq didn't have WMD. Wake up. The oligarchs we should be scared of live in the US and the UK. They are scapegoating Russia to distract from their own corruption! There's no evidence what so ever no investigation. People need to stop blindly following what the corrupt tell them in the media!

[@mikem5424]

Dave Hammond If the Russians wanted to kill the double agent why wouldn't they have done it when he was in jail in Russia

[@patriciakedeni]

how can most people not see facebbok's real twisted objectives and its bad influence on our lives years ago?

[@Kcali111]

Ive always been anti Facebook since day one, and when people question me why.......this is why. People having a platform to hate on you, rob you of info and real life. How about go out and live REAL life ,thats what people need to do.

[@peregrinegrace8570]

It really is time to switch off To go dark And to walk out Into the light This is all darkness...

[@josefk5659]

Am I missing something? Is this shocking to anyone? What the hell did everyone think was happening with their personal data they publish on the internet?

[@superstd]

the dumb one thinks that after you give them your personal info it would just be kept in their pocket to get warm or something xD every social media sell info to everyone who pays , this is not new xD

[@jovaniolivares9460]

Seriously. Why is this news? I thought everyone knew thats how Facebook makes its money, by selling your information... did people really think it was a 'free' website?

[@PHeMoX]

It's actually what makes him look like a bad Clinton ploy. Apparently the Trump campaign team already denied having used the CA stuff. Not that it had to, as the Wikileaks stuff had a much greater effect. No Russians involved there. An DNC leaker provided factual data that exposed Clinton. That's the end of the story. In some ways Trump is completely terrible, but Clinton definitely has no right to complain about anything. She never deserved to become president.

[@tpickett123]

Josef K only idiots are shocked. The blog for angry white men? This guy drinks a lot of kool aid.

[@jamesianv]

It's not the marketing stuff, it's the psychology profiles and the ability to manipulate. In Issac Issanov book the second foundation they could control one in a thousand and that was enough to control the Galaxy. It's news because we knew about Mercer and Cambridge but didn't know what they were doing exactly. Still don't know how we got into endless wars or how to get out.

[@ispbrotherwolf]

I don´t have Facebook, I did see the problem from the start. As soon as you give over your info to a private company, you will be used. The same with Clouds, Google etc. Don´t give into the easy way of living, it makes the corporations the heads up and profit off you.

[@1blessedsavior]

ISP BrotherWolf They can collect info from the Census, your voter registration in your county, the DMV, your social security number, your bank account, by looking at where you shop and the things you buy. You've stopped nothing. Do you own a smart phone? A smart tv? Have a cable box or satellite dish? Use the internet for anything? Yeah.....these devices all give info about you to someone. That info gets sold and resold. Well, you get the gist of what I'm writing here.

[@ispbrotherwolf]

I know, that why I use money as much I can. But the again I don´t live in USA. Where I live, some of the right to privacy is still in place, but probably not for long. It is so F-ing horrid.

[@BWolf00]

Ginger - I agree, there are numerous data sources and numerous companies buying the data to compile into targeted "information" that is in turn sold to any number of companies and even political concerns. Facebook, Google, Instagram are just a few of the sources and to believe that their data is not being funneled to political research/marketing companies is ridiculous. Also, understand this is the SOP for all political parties today and for the future to believe otherwise is incredibly naive. So, as best as I can figure Cambridge Analytica "violated" Facebook's "polices", but no laws - and to believe that that Facebook is a political neutral company is again naive.

[@BWolf00]

BTW, to halt all data/record trails is nearly impossible today. Hell imagine my shock when discovered even the auto parts store is taped into the state DMV records. I went to NAPA Auto to get an oil filter but forgot which engine was in the vehicle...remember your VIN - "no problem" we'll look it up via your license number. But I do like to confuse the confuser...it's why I frequently LIE when entering some details on data tracking cards. The grocery and drug stores believe I'm 99yrs old according to the customer cards. I imagine there's someone surprised to find out a 99yr old needs extra large condoms...LOL

[@clachanachoin3127]

I bet you don't even watch videos on KZbin and comment on them either. Very wise.

[@jovaniolivares9460]

I thought everyone already knew this??

[@bobrolander4344]

So did I .... 5 years ago. Then their stock value exploded a thousand fold. Humans are too stupid for evolution. Ever heard of that Dunning Kruger Effect? Let's apply that to species: What species _thinks_ it is the most genius of all? Yep. John Cleese is damn right: There is no hope.

[@drv30]

Yeah it has been the business model from the start. It's no different from Google "personalized Ads", or "KZbin Suggestions", it is literally the same kind of data analysis.

[@hannahgray5146]

how

[@clipstheonly2513]

nope, it has way more privacy breaches

[@lohronnielelwoj2531]

lol i jus woke up i try log in said errr facebook shut down lol

[@brettking8663]

Go to your settings on Facebook and look at OFFLINE FACEBOOK ACTIVITY. It's kinda scary

[@arxvphoto809]

The interviewer could’ve ask much better questions. Like specifics on how they used and gathered data.

[@nowseemefly]

ARXV Photo They won't. Cuz if they did, you'll find pretty much every IT company is doing the same thing.

[@justgivemethetruth]

That is their IP and they are not going to give it away ... PLUS, when people know they are being manipulated, they become paranoid and thus immunized against the manipulations they know about.

[@EvaGarciaGonzalez]

Read the article.

[@johnculhane438]

Just watch Nix's presentations on YT. Amazing all this was legal. Wish he talked about Brexit also.

[@arxvphoto809]

John Culhane no link? 😏

[@shmackatrotsky5394]

Who knew that Cambridge Soundworks and Audio Technica would merge to form such a powerful adversary to modern, democratic nation-states? Not I, said the fly.

[@JamieRowlandthejamieusrowlando]

Underrated comment

[@kufie_smack5216]

Super powerful drivers paired with their signature horns to amplify the sounds you dont hear.

[@mukatsuku1590]

the comment is a joke, which you (gobsmacked) totally missed. Which makes it even funnier!!

[@robgilbert5527]

shmackatrotsky but but WUSSIA

[@wildreams]

@gobsmacked Joke ✈️ Head 🤪

[@supercalifragilestic]

good on this guy for coming clean

[@henryzhang9915]

This guy is epic, love the word he use, great explanation.

[@pizzaboy7949]

Henry Zhang you can tell he fears some questions about how serious and f***** upp this reallly Is

[@isaiahsspontaneouscontent9111]

He knows what he was doing and when he cashed in, then proceeds to bite the hand that gave him that wealth😄

[@toyotaprius79]

Butt load of respect for this dude agreeing to be interviewed. The poor dude's going to get a bounty on his head.. I hope not.

[@Lerian_V]

He has a fall-out with Cambridge Analytica. They are in a legal battle, so it's understandable why he's taking his fight public.

[@raymeester7883]

He must likely to face legal action. Nothing he said is really knew. Companies aim to do this or already do.

[@miniscus5]

This is going to end up being one of the historic videos of our era.

[@TooManyChoices1]

miniscus5 No it won’t lol 😂.

[@elizabethhuttinger]

This is a truy unbekievable story. Love the detail about movng the whole office to Cambridge when Steve Bannon came calling. Deceiving the deceiver.

[@CarlaHolley]

So, at no point did Wylie stop and think "I'm working for evil"?

[@CarlaHolley]

I guess like many statisticians and software coders, he got so far into making his model work that he didn't look up from his keyboard until it was too late.

[@Phrancis5]

well that's kinda the "mad scientist" scenario. you're so caught up ego and inventing some awesome new thing that you don't stop to think how it could be used for evil

[@Sound8VisionVibe]

Well he apparently did at some point (albeit a little late) because here he is blowing whistles. Unless its a planned part of a bigger game.

[@conancat]

There are still boatloads of devs working in gambling or questionable data science industries like this guy. It's legally gray. Engineers and scientists, just like any human, can be susceptible to moral corruption in exchange of advancements.

[@gaydona]

I think that is the point which we are witnessing.

[@dustinellsworth7727]

#1! - Facebook and Google have been at this for years. It's their business model...

[@Blitznstitch2]

Facebook sucks

[@eggory]

"If we don't have any shared understanding, how can we be a functioning society?" Wise words.

[@brunojl2]

Guys! It's surprising that you are all surprised about this... Once your data leaves your computer, it is not private anymore. Forget about companies worrying about your privacy and governments securing your data. That is absolute nonsense. You want your data being private? Unplug from the internet. Simple. Otherwise, keep calm and carry on.

[@MayurPanghaal]

Not really.If youre on linux and do not use FB but steem on the blockchain,youre secure.

[@brunojl2]

Fair enough. Allow me to rephrase: "99.9999999% of guys! It's surprising that you are all surprised about this... Once your data leaves your computer, it is not private anymore. Forget about companies worrying about your privacy and governments securing your data. That is absolute nonsense. You want your data being private? Unplug from the internet. Simple. Otherwise, keep calm and carry on."

[@NEMO-NEMO]

Mayur Panghaal can you repeat that in English so maybe someone other than yourself can understand it’s meaning?

[@creepersonspeed5490]

"How dare you try and change things for the Better????? Just accept it and keep your head down" Ps good luck getting a job without having a social media account

[@AlwaysHereAndNow]

Mayur, can you please translate that in a way that I can understand it - knowing that I have a very basic understanding of computers and internet? Thanks.

[@ME-ol9gk]

Am I alone in thinking that technology is getting very dangerous.

[@BartAlder]

No, definitely not alone.

[@rumfordc]

oligopolies are very dangerous, no matter what level of technology

[@BartAlder]

Great point Rumford, undeniably true - both propositions can be dead true at the same time, of course. Give an oligarch a devastating technical capacity and they are more dangerous to more people. Remove that technical capacity and they are still dangerous af.

[@gin3868]

Its the way people use it, technology is neutral on itself as its not sentient

[@LenVrijhof]

Nope, you're not alone. This is really getting out of hand. I live in the Netherlands, and the government is asking our permission to change the law so that our secret agencies can screen anyone suspicious and their entire social circle without their consent, and even share it with third parties and other countries. Every major power is hungry for your data, and I fear that it's going to get much worse, to the point we need to abandon technology completely to protect ourselves.

[@dekaos]

How about you show us the uncut version.

[@MannFace51]

I'll show you *my* uncut version

[@seksualusis]

Thanks, Christopher, thanks Guardian.

[@jordanmcdaniel919]

Wow. Thanks for speaking out

[@anthonycloward2948]

glad people are finally talking about this

[@elizabethowens8548]

anthony cloward. I know. It was obvious to me that this could be used easily for social engineering

[@gringopapi6985]

its been talked about for years and years. Its called internet marketing 101. Only now some of the Kardashian and cat video crowd are coming over and learns something useful for once.

[@SaveManWoman]

Shocked!! Deleted my Facebook along with other social sites! Best move I have ever made!

[@cellline7540]

ZTruth NY lol i never joined in the first place

[@elliemccarthy3487]

Brilliant Christopher the ONLY whistleblower

[@BlackWolf6420]

Wow, just wow. Thank you for sharing.

[@fingerhorn4]

One question that all whistleblowers need to answer, but are rarely asked: Why did they participate in this kind of activity IN THE FIRST PLACE? The usual answer, if any, is that "they saw the light", or "they got in too deep". In reality, they knew perfectly well what they were getting into right from the start.

[@sha1841]

Absolutely! They provide themselves with convenient rationalizations

[@thanhnguyenminh4704]

That's also why people wouldn't trust whistleblowers afterward. How can we trust someone who exposed themselves and whether the story they told is completely accurate?

[@cfferry2002]

such a responsible human being, so concerned about society. I just wonder how much income he collected after bringing chaos to the world

[@danhoelck6270]

A lot. Probably at least 250k.

[@Jmavaro1]

Chris Ferry better late then never. It’s extremely difficult to be a whistle blower. we should be thanking him.

[@kenmurray4005]

And what about you? What's the price of your soul?

[@cfferry2002]

apparently you have a price that you would sell your soul for, and believe everyone else also would sell their soul for a price. my soul has never been for sale, but your assumption that I would sell my soul seems to confirm my feeling that you are just projecting. besides what would someone living a spartan life do without their soul ?

[@gin3868]

Knowing that I did good, pissing off my old evil unethical bosses, and 200k

[@breakhart]

after snowden on NSA surveillance, now wiley on Cambridge Analytica data collection, I will not surprise if there are many more out there

[@josemariadelgado6982]

UH Ah

[@josemariadelgado6982]

ai am de guan

[@josemariadelgado6982]

jeje jijuijui

[@seanomathuna97]

he does a good English accent

[@maximagreen7829]

he is canadian

[@wrighj]

Lapsy Pa I’m English and he doesn’t sound English at all wtf lol

[@fabiennefertiti3017]

He is a Canadian and sounds like a Canadian

[@seanomathuna97]

Carlos Enrique you ball so hard Carlos

[@seanomathuna97]

bruh

[@1bol390]

I'm sure there is KZbin information being gathered by them also!!

[@dmarsub]

VtochkaGtochka likes, dislikes comments/ videos watched, thats a load of data, especially when the profile is public then its all up for grabs.

[@maximagreen7829]

If we are writing a comment (like now) we have to login into youtube/ google. Unless you logout as soon as you are done writing, google is collecting your data, too. And they can see and use the data, they watch you as you go switch this or that site or search for something. Do you still believe, those data experts with their algorithms can't profile your personality?

[@jonathantan2469]

VtochkaGtochka It's not what you post. It's what you watch. For example you see a video about creating a survival knife. The algorithm recommends other survival skill videos to you. You also watched videos on jungle trekking, nature based tourism, etc. in the past. The data (viewing habits, comments, likes, dislikes, etc.) can be used by... say an environmentalist group to target you with material for fundraising or recommend more KZbin videos with the goal of changing your behaviour over time. Or political ads by a party running on an environmentalist platform.

[@jonathantan2469]

And by the way... KZbin is owned by Google. Which collects info about your searches, your email, your map searches, your location history & travel, etc. Welcome to the Panopticon.

[@leandrodeangola]

just proud of not use this crooked Facebook bs !

[@markhunt1666]

Way to go dude.. Stay safe though. You made many really rich people mad

[@ericpmoss]

You know, I used to think it would be great to write programs that would counter all this kind of thing, but there are too many people like Mercer, Bannon and Nix who see themselves winning the Game of Thrones, and too many techies that are "just solving interesting problems". I now wonder if the only way normal society can fight back is with pitchforks and torches.

[@elijahthomas6976]

currently getting my bachelors in computer science lets do it

[@depthsothenso813]

Become a vigilante hacker.

[@armv7-m603]

Good thing I deleted my facebook account.

[@randomaccessfemale]

One person does not make a difference. You are still in KZbin.

[@armv7-m603]

It's not about making a difference, it's about reducing the risk of my exposure to mass data harvesting. I use VPN's, TOR, and next to nothing google related. I am protected from a lot of things.

[@PHeMoX]

The VPN's, TOR and so on most likely have caused you to end up on a black list somewhere already. You're not protected. It's smarter to change your behaviour, instead of trying to hide. You know, the good old 'hide in plain sight' thing. It'll always work better than anything else really. Now don't get me wrong, I've got nothing to hide anyway. But the idea that a VPN and TOR can prevent you from leaving any digital traces is frankly stupid. In case you don't know, internet traffic still goes through major nodes and those nodes are constantly being checked. In fact, deleting your Facebook account doesn't erase your previous online identity build up through Facebook anyway. Countless amounts of sites also have access to your profile information, deleted or not. In truth, we need regulation for this stuff, because in many ways these companies are more powerful than any government.

[@armv7-m603]

You're making a lot of major assumptions about my internet activity here, I don't have time to address them all. I live in a free and open country. There is nothing illegal about VPN's. There is nothing illegal about TOR hence no "blacklist". " internet traffic still goes through major nodes and those nodes are constantly being checked." If you're using the right VPN's that don't log activity, have configured TOR for maximum anonymity and you're routing correctly, this wouldn't be the case. My facebook account had no personal information, little to no activity and was created with an encrypted burner email. I have no social media accounts with the exception of twitter. There are numerous ways to minimize your digital footprint. You can hide your identity by having hopping through relay servers in large numbers of countries.

[@JustinDeFouw]

Ads did not change my mind. Sorry but if you can be played by 'ads' or 'news' then you don't deserve to vote. Do your own research.

[@davidrundle1366]

Justin DeFouw You're giving way too much credit to the average intelligence, and overestimating the time and energy people take to form independent, rational opinions.

[@RKFCGSBGK]

It is smarter than all human beings. Not even the advanced mathematicians or scientists can understand their own work. It learns by itself and develops its own system so far advanced that it's playing chess against millions of people at once. Who is to say it didn't influence you? If you really believe you're unable to be influenced then maybe it worked perfectly?

[@BenKensteEhNich]

Underestimating implicit memory and confirmation bias here... just finished my psychology course and wanted to brag a little... but seriously tho we can’t help it that’s how our brains are wired. Those adds and news have an influence on us whether we recognize it or not.

[@tl2837]

RKFCGSBGK what is smarter than all human beings? Cambridge analytica is a huge scam. Their system isnt nowhere as impactful as they say it is.

[@sanjeevansingh2123]

Justin DeFouw it's very easy to manipulate anyone if someone knows ur thought process, knows how you will react to wat. And the worst part you won't be knowing that ur being manipulated. It's is equivalent of a magical drug , tasteless , colourless, no smell but affects ur decision making.

[@kingsufian07]

HE IS A HERO........... why? HE SPEAK THE TRUTH because people need to know. Thank you.

[@phon14593]

That was heavy. If this is true, the same incident that took place in a fictional world of Watchdogs 2 is also present in real life. It's scary to think that we're being manipulated without noticing.

[@timbuckthe2nd642]

It's been happening since JFK died

[@ashleykrolikowski5427]

i just get the feeling that he almost feels a sense of pride over what he did. i can see it in his facial expressions during certain parts of the interview. i can almost understand it though. at the end of the day he still did something incredible; he proved that this evil idea/thing was possible. but he also realized it wasn't the right thing to do. so maybe he feels pride and shame over all of it.

[@HumanRights4Everyone]

What exactly is he blowing the whistle on? Nothing illegal or unethical... Was he not aware that political advertisements existed?

[@raymeester7883]

He did. He also approached Steve Bannon to make him a client.

[@-BlackTalon-]

A willing participant until it was no longer useful then blows the whistle...

[@jewelbennett5446]

Bless your soul. Thank you

[@bobbymkd457]

Do we need a whistleblower for this???

[@MsSera21]

He's violating a non-disclosure agreement to do these interviews, and I believe that what they did breached the Data Protection Act, so I'd say so.

[@LewisMarkMonticello]

Well then you missed the whole point. If you did not understand how the algorithms work you are a target.

[@aberreg]

This guy is so happy to be on TV

[@Vazo999]

Why you so butthurt

[@arnierhannz8927]

No, he is so happy to reveal the truth

[@anton-scottgoustin5425]

Chris is a gem--he is both extremely intelligent and probably completely honest. I propose that he stand on the fourth chair in Alexanderplatz Berlin

[@MrNoze007]

Thanks for sharing this important info.

[@ewamahring]

Thank the universe for whistleblowers!

[@conorChaos_]

looks like hes wearing blush wtf

[@ShaudaySmith]

What Christopher is telling us here isn't new, but it's insidious with how complete their system is. Truly fascinating to here him talk about how the system got going and what all it does.

[@SurajSinghTomarArya]

As a person in online marketing industry, I can tell you that Facebook's main revenue comes from selling people information to comapnies and political parties. We got so many option like movies, songs, sports team, food, what political parties you like and all of this is of huge value for companies and politicians who will decide then how to scam you this year.

[@AzngameFreak03]

"Who do you trust." He had to think about it. He coudn't even say, "Myself." This is the world we live in. Where you can't even be confident enough to trust yourself. Am I living in reality? Or is this just Fantasy~

[@nextlifeonearth]

"whom* do you trust. "

[@snowhusk]

caught in the land slide, no escape from reality

[@theWanAndOnly]

reality is but a construct of the human mind

[@AzngameFreak03]

we mamat You sure?

[@davidf4803]

Knowledge is power; and giving all your knowledge away to a company like Facebook is DANGEROUS!

[@aubreyjames8795]

after hearing omerosa speak for 20 minutes hearing this guys relaxed, untrained, concise voice is therapy. anyway this reminds me of homeland two seasons ago. this level of coercion is an obvious. people are so plugged into their electronics and the false sense of reality created through the internet.

[@mystictraveler8642]

This is one of the worst crimes in human history.

[@yellowsausage7714]

They took my NUDES!

[@spacewalker8747]

Noam chomsky wrote on this subject matter manufacturing,....

[@njoroge2061]

"Information is power"

[@dukeimus]

Am I missing something? Isn't this what every Brand/Agency Paid Media Team been doing? Why does people act like its new and shocking?

[@x12yz]

I never used facebook from day one!!!!

[@nyx6937]

Google/KZbin, Twitter, Amazon, Apple, and worst offender: your smartphone. Doesn't matter if you use FB, as long as someone in your contact list does, they have a ghost profile with data points for you! The only safeguard, countries with actual privacy law: most of Europe. But even then, your data's not safe from rogue actors. Oh, and no FB profile= your homonyms or an impersonator of you may pop up when an employer does a background check. Best practice: be on FB, log in from one laptop only (always the same IP, same browser) and feed it innocuous bland BS.

[@Brett_S_420]

His impression of Nix giving his spiel is the only time I've laughed while learning anything about this clusterf@&$ that this company helped create.

[@TheHelium11]

crazy to believe that all you need is a million dollars to change the public opinion of an entire country

[@reflux51]

the way hebatted her obvious call of subterfuge was brilliantr