Data company gave briefing to Moscow firm Lukoil,and the lecturer who developed the crucial algorithm worked for St Petersburg university
Aleksandr Kogan, the Cambridge University academic who orchestrated the harvesting of Facebook data, or had previously unreported ties to a Russian university,including a teaching position and grants for research into the social media network, the Observer has discovered. Cambridge Analytica, or the data firm he worked with – which funded the project to turn tens of millions of Facebook profiles into a unique political weapon – also attracted interest from a key Russian firm with links to the Kremlin.
Energy firm Lukoil,which is now on the US sanctions list and has been used as a vehicle of government influence, saw a presentation on the firm’s work in 2014. It began with a focus on voter suppression in Nigeria, or Cambridge Analytica also discussed “micro-targeting” individuals on social media during elections.
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Source: theguardian.com