Cambridge Analytica staff set up new firm

Re:Cambridge Analytica staff set up new firm by mockingbirdy on Saturday July 14, 2018 @10:18AM (#17530435)

I think their value comes from the collected data of Facebook profiles. If they just copy the data and their trained models, they essentially just use the IP that brought them into that mess in the first place.

All the knowledge doesn't help them, they'll need to use their models which they've developed at CA. Otherwise they can know a lot about machine learning and statistical methods, but don't have the data to train their models. I think it will be revealed that they just use the same data. Which is borderline illegal, IMO.

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Re:Cambridge Analytica staff set up new firm by lozenge on Saturday July 14, 2018 @01:04PM (#17531145)

Their psychographic model was hugely overblown. A couple of Facebook likes do not mean they suddenly know the path to change your mind with some ads. They were just a political dirty tricks operative.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/19/cambridge-an...

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Re:Cambridge Analytica staff set up new firm by mockingbirdy on Saturday July 14, 2018 @01:49PM (#17531396)

In the article you've linked, the whistleblower says: "the company itself was founded on using Facebook data" (watch at minute 09:00).

Their models might not be the most accurate, but they are a big part of their success. + all those dirty tricks they've pulled off.

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Re:Cambridge Analytica staff set up new firm by consumer451 on Saturday July 14, 2018 @12:01PM (#17530832)

> they'll need to use their models which they've developed at CA

This is what drove me to quit FB many years ago. They kept resetting my privacy prefs, which most considered a minor annoyance. "Just change it back, big deal."

The thing is that this citizen profiling data lives on until you die. Most people don't change their basic beliefs and interests very often. A bad actor only needs one opportunity to profile you for life.

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Re:Cambridge Analytica staff set up new firm by bradleyjg on Saturday July 14, 2018 @02:10PM (#17531505)

Not especially borderline. That they were involved with the prior company doesn't make it any less illegal to take its intellectual property.

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Re:Cambridge Analytica staff set up new firm by mockingbirdy on Saturday July 14, 2018 @02:19PM (#17531556)

I didn't want to say this for legal reasons.

My personal opinion is that there will be a high probability that they use data which they've obtained illegally.

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