EIRP Proceedings, Vol 13 (2018)
ISSN: 2067 – 9211 The Youth of Today - The Generation of the Global Development
The Importance of Communication and Information Securement. Cambridge Analytica Case
Ana Maria Raluca Păuna1, Cornelia Tureac2,
Abstract: This paper aims to emphasize the role of securing communication and information in the 21st century as an answer to the issue of globalization. The new concept of Enterprise Intelligence aims to manage the information flow. This represents an umbrella for the countless information solutions based on IT for a better order, structuring and accessing of internal information flow, of working flows, and of management information systems backed by tools.
Keywords: enterprise intelligence; business intelligence; practical business in politics
JEL Classification: D83; F23; J28
1. Introduction
Securit has been increasingly present as a vital component in any field and it has evolved during the last 10 years as an answer to the issue of globalization (through Big Brother). The shift in paradigm and the subsequent evolution of technology have brought about new concepts such as: security without borders, cloud computing, big data, mobility, etc. Information is transient and elusive and is often not checked against various sources, which is why the processing power to filter and analyze big amounts of data is constantly growing. A central aspect is what an information system should be able to do, taking into account that it is often challenged by the functional requirements of interested parties such as users and managers. Other aspects, such as the defining the information system without mentioning what is should do, are demanded as nonfunctional requirements.
2. Enterprise Intelligence or information flow management
As information systems are developed and used in many fields of our modern society, they must often undertake one of the aspects related to safety or security. A growing tendency of interconnecting such information systems also creates the need to consider both aspects for the same systems, that is safety and security. See the Intelligent Business, a new concept known as Enterprise Intelligence
What would it be like to see this slogan when you open a new app:
DATA DRIVES ALL WE DO.
Cambridge Analytica uses data to change audience behavior. Visit our Commercial or Political divisions to see!
Each story has a beginning. For me, the story Cambridge Analytica and Facebook, which unfolded right in front of our eyes, has offered something which some people have known for a long time and others only guesses - the information that there was a control of the elements present on Facebook. However, most people had no idea they were about to be introduced in some databases and be manipulated and sacrificed for the strategic communication research carried out for the interest of practical businesses in politics.
Target public, that is the people who voted, needed to be found, informed, stimulated, but the major issue is maintaining those and the markets. There was another way of interpreting the product itself (and we do not mean, as in marketing, the packaging, services, quality – elements which persuade the customers that their choice is the best and they are going to be satisfied with it), the solution being competitive intelligence which comprises three fields: intelligence in business, organizational intelligence and competitive intelligence.
This new concept is called Enterprise Intelligence or Business Intelligence which creates intelligence and organizational warning and it can be perceived as an umbrella term for the numerous information solutions based on IT for a better order, structuring and accessing of the internal information flows, of working flows, of the management information systems backed by tools such as databases, data mining, tools regarding the performance of business management, balance scorecard and the instrument panel. (see the diagram)
(It happens beyond the information and knowledge that go past the intelligence in action textul de langa diagrama)
Source: https://www.rodenberg.nl/publications/rechts13-1.php
Any security system must ensure privacy, integrity and information availability. It is estimated that over 80% of the relevant information comes from open sources (mass-media, Internet) and over 80% of the incidents come from the inside of the organization. The purpose of the organizational intelligence is to develop people’s ability to alter data, information and knowledge in the process of policy development, improvement of decision making process and business view.
3. Cambridge Analytica Case
Cambridge Analytica Ltd was a British consulting company which combined data extraction, data factorage and data analysis with strategic communication for the electoral process. It was set in 2013 as competition for SCL1 group. The company was partially owned by Robert Mercer’s family, an American speculative fund manager who supported many conservative political causes.
Cambridge Analytica was involved in 44 political races in 2014. In 2015, it carried out services of data analysis for Ted Cruz’s2 political campaign. In 2016 it worked for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, as well as for the campaign Leave EU for the United Kingdom referendum regarding the leaving of EU.
Cambridge Analytica’s role in these campaigns was controversial and it is under criminal investigation in both the United Kingdom and the USA.
In March 2018, more media institutions broadcast news during their bulletins about Cambridge Analytica’s commercial practices. New York Times and The Observer reported the breach of Facebook data and the use for political purposes of the personal data obtained on Facebook users by an external researcher who claimed to be collecting them for academic purposes. Shortly after that, Channel 4 broadcast undercover investigation videos (using prostitutes, bribery and traps to discredit politicians).
As a result of this mass-media news, the British Information Commissioner tracked the company’s servers. Facebook forbade Cambridge Analytica to advertise on its platform, stating it had been deceived. On the 23rd of March 2018 the British High Court granted the Information Commissioner’s Bureau a search warrant for Cambridge Analytica’s offices in London.
The personal data of almost 50 million Facebook users have been bought through the 270,000 users of the same platform who explicitly chose to share their data by means of "thisisyourdigitallife" app.
By granting permission to this third party to purchase its data, since 2015 it has also granted access to information about the user’s friends network, which led to a cascade process of finding the data of almost 50 million users. Most of these have not explicitly given permission to Cambridge Analytica to access their data. The application developer has violated the Facebook terms and conditions by offering data to Cambridge Analytica.
4. As Conslusions
Cambridge Analytica, the data analysis company which helped Donald Trump become president, has gathered data about Fcaebook users from about 50 million people without their permission, according to a New York Times report.
Facebook is in a delicate situation. The company claims that it is not guilty. Facebook contends that its technology has worked as it has been implemented, but that Cambridge Analytica violated the terms and conditions of the deal.
So, how did Cambridge Analytica obtain data from Facebook for almost 50 million people? Alex Stamos, the Facebook security manager is trying to give a useful explanation for the way this has happened.
Facebook offers a series of technological tools for software developers and one of the most popular is Facebook Login, which allows users to connect to a site or an app by using their Facebook account instead of creating new accounts. People use it since it is easier and it eliminates the need to remember a lot of unique usernames and passwords.
When users access Login Facebook, they give the app developer a large range of information from their Facebook profile – such as name, address, email address or their friends’ list.That happened in 2015 when a professor from Cambridge University, Dr. Aleksandr Kogan, created an app called “this is your digital life” that used the Facebook login function. About 270,000 people used Login Facebook to create accounts and, as a result, they chose to share personal profile data with Kogan.
Still, in 2015, Facebook also allowed developers to collect certain information about the networks of friends of those who used Login Facebook. That means that while one user agreed to hand in data, developers could access some data about their friends. That was not a secret – Facebook says it was according to the developed service – but it has been updated so that now this is not possible anymore, at least not at the same level.
Through the 270,000 people that chose that option, Kogan has managed to get access to the data of almost 50 million Facebook users. That information could include information about people’s location or interests or more detailed information such as photographs, updates, check-ins. It has been determined that Cambridge Analytica data for almost 30 million people contain enough information, including their place of residence, which, together with other recorded data, could help the company build psychological profiles.
All this happened just as Facebook intended to. This entire data gathering followed the company’s rules and directions. Things got out of control when Kogan shared this data with Cambridge Analytica. Facebook claims this is against the company’s terms and conditions. According to these rules, nobody is allowed to transfer information, including anonymous, aggregated or derived data, to any advertising network, data broker or advertising services.
On the 1st of May 2018 Cambridge Analytica and its parent company filed for insolvency and closed the company.
5. References
Business Dictionary (http://www.businessdictionary.com).
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Raspotnig, Christian & Vikash, Katta, (2013). Applying a Security Conceptual Model for Coverage Analysis, In proceedings of IFAC Conference on Manufacturing Modelling, Management, and Control (MIM).
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Laney, B. Douglas (2017). Infonomics: How to Monetize, Manage, and Measure Information as an Asset for Competitive. Advantage, Routledge, 1 edition.
Oracle, (2011). E-business suite human capital management global strategy, Oracle Corporation World Headquarters 500 Oracle Parkway Redwood Shores, CA 94065 U.S.A.
https://www.recode.net/2018/3/17/17134072/facebook-cambridge-analytica-trump-explained-user-data.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCL_Group.
https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Cruz.
https://www.rodenberg.nl/publications/rechts13-1.php.
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/05/02/cambridge_analytica_shutdown/.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/17/us/politics/cambridge-analytica-trump-campaign.html.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/cambridge-analytica-facebook-influence-us-election.
https://www.engadget.com/2018/05/02/cambridge-analytica-is-shutting-down-following-facebook-scandal/.
1MA student, Communication Department, Danubius University Galati, Address: 3 Galati Blvd., Galati 800654, Romania, Tel.: +40372361102, Student at Gr. T. Popa Medicine and Pharmacy University, Iasi, E-mail: tureaccornelia@univ-danubius.ro.
2 Associate Professor, PhD, Danubius University of Galati, Romania, Address: 3 Galati Blvd., Galati 800654, Romania, Tel.: +40372361102, E-mail: tureaccornelia@univ-danubius.ro.
1 Strategic Communication Laboratories – it was a British private company of behavioral research and strategic communication, an international leader whose objectives were:
Collecting and managing structured and unstructured data, data sets provided by customers or information gathered for the customers and available even in hostile environments. Data managing was the backbone of the company;
Data deduplication, cleaning, normalizing, labeling and segmenting to ensure quality and precision;
Extracting cogent information, greatly diminishing data sets for the significant segments of customers and reducing time and money spent to reach these segments of customers by using psychological profiles and personalized models based on projects that offer a more detailed perspective than the standard statistical analysis approaches;
Managing target public relations by using a series of tools: traditional communication channels (television, radio, photocopiers, public relations and direct marketing), very well aimed channels (social mass media) and indirect channels (third party agreement and network affiliation) thus ensuring a maximum efficacy of spending;
Using advanced assessment techniques (based on the values of the public, not on program performance values) in order to prove the efficacy of the programs on the public.
2 An American senator from the state of Texas and one of the republican Party’s candidates to the USA Presidential Elections in 2016, as he won the primary elections in Iowa.
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