Data given to Cambridge Analytica ‘highly inaccurate’

The Cambridge academic at the centre of a row over the use of Facebook users’ private data has dismissed claims the information could have been used to influence voters.

Aleksandr Kogan, who supplied the personal information of millions of Facebook users to election consultancy Cambridge Analytica (CA) in 2014, told British politicians that personality scores he gave to the company were “highly inaccurate” and “made little sense” for political advertising.

“The idea that this data is accurate, I would say, is scientifically ridiculous. The idea that even if you had a lot more data you could make it super accurate is also pretty silly,” he told a House of Commons select committee.