Cambridge Analytica's Facebook data was accessed from Russia, MP says

as mentioned in Related: Facebook broke the law and faces maximum fine for Cambridge Analytica scandal, UK watchdog saysRevelations about the collection and use of the data threw Cambridge Analytica and Facebook into crisis earlier this year. While also working at Cambridge University, Kogan held a professorship at St. Petersburg State University. Kogan denies handing over the Facebook data he gathered for Cambridge Analytica to any Russian entity, saying it is possible that someone in Russia could have accessed data from his computer without his knowledge. The university would not comment on the specific claim that the data Kogan gathered had been accessed from Russia. Facebook has asked the ICO what evidence there is the Facebook data was accessed in Russia, CNN understands.

Facebook investigates data firm Crimson Hexagon

Crimson Hexagon, based in Boston, describes itself as offering "consumer insights" and has contracts with government agencies around the world. According to the Wall Street Journal , Crimson Hexagon has "contracts to analyse public Facebook data for clients including a Russian nonprofit with ties to the Kremlin and multiple US government agencies". As well as government work, Crimson Hexagon has had deals with commercial companies including Adidas, Samsung and the BBC. Crimson Hexagon did not respond to requests for comment from the BBC. "Crimson Hexagon only collects publicly available social media data that anyone can access," he wrote, seeking to distance his firm from Cambridge Analytica, the firm which allegedly used an app to scrape private data from the network.

Russian company had access to Facebook user data through apps

As it stated in Facebook told CNN that the Mail.Ru Group developed hundreds of Facebook apps, some of which were test apps that were not made public. Now we learn that the largest technology company in Russia, whose executives boast close ties to Vladimir Putin, had potentially hundreds of apps integrated with Facebook, collecting user data. Facebook would not say how much user data the Mail.Ru Group obtained or if any data was obtained about American citizens. Related: Facebook investigating employee's links to Cambridge AnalyticaMail.Ru told CNN that it had not been contacted by Facebook about its investigation into the misuse of user data. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg ordered an investigation into potential misuse of Facebook user data gathered through third-party apps a few days after the Cambridge Analytica story broke in March.

collected by :Roy Mark