Tutorial 2 - Cambridge Analytica
Task Reminder
Ahead of the tutorial (week 4), you should:
- Familiarise yourself with the case study through one or more of the readings.
- Meet with your subgroup to discuss your tutorial prompt (approximately 50 minutes).
- One member of your group should submit notes summarising this discussion on your tutorial group's discussion board (deadline is the next actual tutorial in week 4).
Don't feel like your discussion needs to stick tightly to answering the prompt, or indeed settle on an answer at all. Instead, use the prompt as a starting point and see what concepts or ideas it leads to. If further interesting questions come out of your discussion, note these down too. You don't need to mark it specifically on the submission, but you might want to make personal note of anything particularly interesting you'd like to discuss further with the whole tutorial.
Summary
In 2018, several media outlets reported that Cambridge Analytica, a British political consulting firm working on the Trump campaign, had accessed personal data of up to 87 million Facebook users for political advertising. The firm had harvested personal data through a Facebook app called "This Is Your Digital Life", consisting of a series of questions designed to create psychological profiles. In reality, the app also could access information on the user's friends network, and even direct messages, without the explicit permission of the user. The app developer, Aleksandr Kogan, had told Facebook that the data was collected exclusively for academic purposes. However, by sharing the data with Cambridge Analytica, he breached Facebook's terms of service. In 2018, the data breach was exposed by former Cambridge Analytica employee Christopher Wylie.
Core Readings
Cadwalladr C. & Graham-Harrison E. (2018a, March 17). Revealed: 50 million Facebook profiles harvested for Cambridge Analytica in major data breach. The Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/cambridge-analytica-facebook-influence-us-election
Cadwalladr C. & Graham-Harrison E. (2018b, March 17). How Cambridge Analytica turned Facebook ‘likes’ into a lucrative political tool. The Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/17/facebook-cambridge-analytica-kogan-data-algorithm
Alternative:
Information Commissioner’s Office (2018). Investigation into the Use of Data Analytics in Political Campaigns.
Prompts
Each subgroup should discuss one of these prompts (with the letter matching your subgroup letter) before the tutorial.
A) Traditionally, political campaigns have relied on survey data. How do you think Big Data has changed the way we conduct political campaigns, and what is its social impact?
B) What do you think are the social and ethical implications of ‘microtargeting’ (personalised targeted ads), and the assumptions behind its use? How could this impact existing power dynamics between governments, tech corporations, and citizens?
C) Whistleblowers can play a fundamental role in exposing organisational misconduct and unethical behaviour. What do you think is the role of organisations and tech professionals in promoting a culture of trust, transparency, and accountability?
D) What do you think is the role of other actors (governments, regulators, citizens, etc.) in promoting accountability in the tech sector?