Data Breaches and Scandals - Assignment

Running head: DATA BREACHES AND SCANDALS
Data Breaches and Scandals
Name of the Student
Name of the University
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Executive Summary
The report presents recent example of data breaches and scandals with its causes, consequences
and possible strategies to mitigate the issues. The recent example taken in this report is
Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal. The Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal is the
biggest scandal till now without getting identified for long. The report presents the details of the
scandal showing how the scandal happened from beginning to end. The causes and consequences
of this scandal shows that if it has not been identified then users may have impacted more
negatively. The response from Facebook and Cambridge Analytica is also provided in this
report. Finally the report concludes that this type of scandal can be severe and possible strategies
that should be taken to mitigate this type of risks.

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................1
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Discussion........................................................................................................................................3
Problem of Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal..........................................................3
Cause of data scandal...................................................................................................................4
Consequences of data scandal.....................................................................................................5
Responses....................................................................................................................................6
Possible solutions.........................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
The data breaches and scandals has raised to an alarming rate in the current scenario that
has devastated many organizations and people’s lives. The data breaches and scandals are
explained in this report in terms of a recent scandal that happened. The recent scandal discussed
in this report is Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal. Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal
is the recent scandal that has affected huge number of people using Facebook (Keach 2018). The
details of the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal is discussed briefly in this report. The
purpose of this report is to identify the scandal happened and propose possible solutions that can
help to mitigate this type of scandals.
The structure of this report is problem of Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal, causes,
how it happened, consequences and possible solutions that can be taken to mitigate the scandal.
Discussion
Problem of Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal
Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal is the biggest crisis of Facebook till date that
started from 2014 however, identified recently in 2018. The problem originated in 2014 when
Cambridge Analytica, a United States consulting firm for voting process, hired Aleksandr
Kogan, an American researcher, for collecting information from Facebook (Adams, Clark and
Craven 2018). The hiring of the researcher was to gather information from Facebook user’s
profile along with their choice of like. Kogan developed an app called this is your digital life,
that included a small survey to Facebook users. Approximately 300,000 users in Facebook were
asked to fill the survey for which they were paid money. Kogan the collected data not only from
the users who participated in the survey but also from their friends whose privacy settings
allowed Kogan to collect data from their profile also (Cadwalladr 2017). The data related to

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personal information of Facebook users were collected through the survey. The terms of services
in the app stated that it would gather and collect information on Facebook users and their
respective friends (Yglesias 2018). This was done only due to allowance of Facebook to collect
and gather information from user’s data back in 2007 when Facebook allowed external
developers to introduce and offer application of their own within Facebook (Albright 2016). The
data was collected to use it for United States presidential election process. Facebook was told by
Kogan that he is using data for research however, when Facebook learnt about the breach, they
asked Kogan to destroy the data. However, the traces of data were still there in Cambridge
Analytica.
Cause of data scandal
The cause of the deemed data scandal can vary to different sources and hence they have
been categorized in different categories. The categories can be stated as the platform, the
conductor and the participant.
The platform: Facebook is the platform here because it is the platform where the scandal took
place. The role of Facebook in the deemed scenario is vague but still it can be hold responsible
for the scandal. It should also be quoted that the source that is the root cause of the discussed
scandal is the platform (Confessore 2018). The reason for stating the above-made statement lays
on the fact that the users have shared their personal information on the platform and they are
responsible for safekeeping of the formers data. Additionally, their policies are also in question
because they allowed the app to even visit their timeline and see the news feed which led to
evaluation of the user’s social network and hence, such mass collection of data by privacy
violation.

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The Conductor: The conductor here is Kogan or Cambridge Analytica because they were the
individual/organization that collected the data by using their app. The conductor also holds huge
responsibility for the deemed scandal because they collected the data in the name of academic
research and used it to fulfil their personal objectives and agendas (Doward et al. 2017). After
conducting such unethical act, they use it to violate the democratic right of citizens which is far
more concerning and without any question they are the cause of the discussed scandal.
The user: The reason for including the user here as the cause of the scandal is because they
allowed the permission to the application without reading its policies. Additionally, they have
shared so much of their information with the considered social networking app without reading
its policies and hence, they are also responsible for the heinous act (Hern and Waterson 2018).
Though, it can be stated that the users are the least responsible for the act but they cannot be
reprieved of their role in the deemed act.
Consequences of data scandal
The consequences of the data scandal can be considered as vague because it no strong
evidence or confessions have been made that the data collected from the scandal was used for
political uses. However, the visible consequence of the deemed scandal is the loss of trust
towards Facebook among the stakeholders is visible from its revenue (Johnson 2018). The
question over associating data with the digital world has also emerged as key matter of
discussion. Additionally, complaints have been registered against all the individual and
organizations involved in the scandal in UK under the data protection law because the law their
states that the use of personal data for commercial purposes is illegal. The privacy commissioner
of Australia has also started their investigation in to the discussed matter (Lin 2018). The
investigation is evaluating whether or not the scandal breached the Australia’s privacy act as

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reported by the ABC Board. The approach of the US towards this act is still unclear and will take
time before any clear result can be determined. For Cambridge Analytica, Facebook has
suspended its services and is blaming all the charges over them. On the contrary, Cambridge
Analytica and Kogan claims that the policy of the Facebook allowed them to use the data for
commercial purposes after which they proceeded with collection of the data (Meredith 2018).
Additionally, the cloud service provider Amazon Web Services (AWS) also suspended their
services to the Cambridge Analytica citing reference to the deemed act. So, as stated above, the
clear consequence of the discussed act is unclear however, it can still be stated that the act has
raised significant question over the safety of data on the digital platform.
Responses
After the revelation of the deemed act both the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica are
facing harsh responses from different sources. The government of Brazil and India raised the
question to Cambridge Analytica over how they were able to use the data for manipulating the
political outcomes of certain scenarios (Williamson 2018). Additionally, lawsuits have been
filled in different states of US over the deemed issue. As stated in the above section AWS
suspended its services to Cambridge Analytica and Facebook is suffering from low revenue due
to negative response of its stocks. Other responses by different sources are raising questions over
the data security and privacy.
Possible solutions
The deemed scandal is a huge perception changer for the people across the globe and
they should plan accordingly to avoid any such instances in future. The following potential
measures can assist in fulfilling the objective of preventing such incidents from happening again:

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 The digital platforms that earn their revenue based on the advertisements and have access
to the user’s information such as Facebook and other social networking sites should
devise policies to test the legitimacy of any advertisement or application before they open
it for the users. Additionally, the platforms should also communicate to the users about
the legitimacy of the published ads and applications.
 The government should set adequate protocols to prevent any such incidents from
happening again and should also formulate a monitoring team to monitor whether or not
the digital platforms are abiding by the formulated law. If any organization or individual
is identified breaching the law, then they should be imposed heavy penalty and in severe
cases even jail terms or other severe actions.
 The government and the companies as well should run awareness campaign about the
data protection. Another notable measure that the formers should do is that they should
make the policies easily visible and understandable for the users.
 The users should also take adequate attention before sharing their personal details over a
platform or sharing it with an ad or application. They should go through the privacy and
other much needed policy of the source they are sharing their personal information with.
Conclusion
The devised report can be emphasized to state that the digital platforms are offering
significant benefits and fun means to the users. However, in the recent years they have also
emerged as a significant threat to the privacy of the users. The discussed case of Facebook
Cambridge Analytica scandal is one of the most prominent example of the privacy threat offered
by the digital revolution. Hence, it is advisable that the discussed threats should be addressed
direly and plans for mitigating the risks be devised and enforced in the minimum possible time to

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prevent any such incidents from happening. In conclusion, the discussed report will be concluded
to state that privacy is one of the most prominent right of any individual and it is the
responsibility of the organization and the government to keep it intact and do the needful.

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References
Adams, B., Clark, A. and Craven, J., 2018. It is Free and Always Will Be-Trading Personal
Information and Privacy for the Convenience of Online Services. arXiv preprint
arXiv:1804.08491.
Albright, J., 2016. How Trump’s campaign used the new data-industrial complex to win the
election. USApp–American Politics and Policy Blog.
Cadwalladr, C., 2017. The great British Brexit robbery: how our democracy was hijacked. The
Guardian, 20.
Confessore, N., 2018. Cambridge Analytica and Facebook: The Scandal and the Fallout So Far.
[online] Nytimes.com. Available at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/04/us/politics/cambridge-analytica-scandal-fallout.html
[Accessed 2 May 2018].
Doward, J., Cadwalladr, C.C.C. and Gibbs, A., 2017. Watchdog to launch inquiry into misuse of
data in politics. Sat, 4, pp.22-29.
Hern, A. and Waterson, J., 2018. Facebook in 'PR crisis mode' over Cambridge Analytica
scandal. [online] the Guardian. Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/apr/24/facebook-in-pr-crisis-mode-over-cambridge-
analytica-scandal-outrage-hallow-aleksandr-kogan [Accessed 2 May 2018].
Johnson, C., 2018. Forbes Welcome. [online] Forbes.com. Available at:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2018/05/01/what-the-cambridge-
analytica-scandal-means-for-the-future-of-facebook-marketing/#19cd5bda291c [Accessed 2 May
2018].

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Keach, S., 2018. Facebook data breach – what happened with Cambridge Analytica and are you
safe?. [online] The Sun. Available at: https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/5843838/facebook-data-
scandal-cambridge-analytica-safe/ [Accessed 2 May 2018].
Lin, Y.W., 2018. # DeleteFacebook is still feeding the beast–but there are ways to overcome
surveillance capitalism.
Meredith, S., 2018. Here's everything you need to know about the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
[online] CNBC. Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/21/facebook-cambridge-analytica-
scandal-everything-you-need-to-know.html [Accessed 2 May 2018].
Williamson, B., 2018. Why education is embracing Facebook-style personality profiling for
schoolchildren. The Conversation.
Yglesias, M., 2018. The case against Facebook. [online] Vox. Available at:
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/21/17144748/case-against-facebook [Accessed
2 May 2018].