The vast majority of Facebook user data that was harvested by Cambridge Analytica came from Americans. But smaller countries are actually better at demonstrating just how big the problem got. Access to just 53 users in Australia reportedly allowed data firms to potentially capture information on over 310,000 people.
According to data obtained by The Guardian, only 53 people in Australia downloaded the original app, called “thisisyourdigitallife,” that ultimately allowed Cambridge Analytica to scrape user data from their friends. From those 53 people, the political consulting firm was able to ultimately get data from as many as 311,127 Australians, according to Facebook’s own estimates.
New Zealand is yet another extreme example. Just ten people from New Zealand downloaded the app, The Guardian reports. But that gave Cambridge Analytica access to data from as many as 63,714 New Zealanders.
Data for the US has not yet been released and Facebook has not provided Gizmodo with any additional information. – READ MORE
[give_form id=”79809″] [contentcards url=”https://gizmodo.com/just-53-people-used-the-app-that-let-cambridge-analytic-1825140173″ target=”_blank”]