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Introduction
On March 17, 2018, The Observer of London2 and The New York Times3 revealed that Cambridge Analytica, the London-based consulting group, had gathered private data from the Facebook profiles of more than 50 million users without their consent, the figure which later went up to 87 million.4 The collection of data was carried out through a Facebook-based quiz app 'thisisyourdigitallife', created by Aleksandr Kogan, a University of Cambridge psychologist who gained access to information from 270,000 Facebook members after they had agreed to use the app to undergo a personality test, for which they were paid through Kogan's company, Global Science Research. But as Christopher Wylie, a Canadian data scientist and a former employee of Cambridge Analytica, stated,5 the app could also collect all kinds of personal data from users (the content that they consulted or liked, and the messages that they posted). In addition, the app provided access to information on the profiles of the friends of each of those users who agreed to take the test, which explains the fact that 87 million users were affected. All this data was then shared by Kogan with Cambridge Analytica, which was working with Donald Trump's election team and which allegedly used this data to target US voters with personalised political messages exploiting what Cambridge Analytica "knew about them and targeting their inner demons".6
Following these revelations the internet has been engulfed in outrage to which government officials were quick to react. On March 19, Antonio Tajani, President of the European Parliament, stated in a twitter message that misuse of Facebook user data "is an unacceptable violation of our citizens' privacy rights" and promised an EU investigation.7 On March 21, Brazil prosecutors opened an investigation into Cambridge Analytica,8 and the following day Israel's Justice Ministry opened an inquiry into possible violations of Israelis' personal information by Facebook.9 On March 27, Christopher Wylie appeared as a witness before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee of the British parliament and on April 10, 2018, Facebook director Mark Zuckerberg testified before the US Congress. Finally, on May 2, just forty-six days after the start of the scandal, Cambridge Analytica succumbed to the mounting public pressure and announced its...