Cambridge Analytica

Cambridge Analytica was a data analytics firm that gained notoriety in 2016 for its role in political campaigns, particularly the U.S. presidential election and the Brexit referendum. The company harvested personal data from millions of Facebook users without their consent to create detailed psychological profiles. This information was then used to target individualized political advertisements, influencing voter behavior. The scandal raised significant ethical concerns about data privacy, the manipulation of democratic processes, and the responsibilities of social media companies in safeguarding user information. It sparked widespread debates about data regulation and the impact of technology on democracy.