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Cambridge Analytica CEO suspended over misuse of Facebook data
Embattled CEO Alexander Nix has been suspended by the board of data mining firm Cambridge Analytica for misuse of information.
His suspension is coming after accusations that the firm misused information from up to 50 million Facebook accounts.
The board said that secretly recorded comments Nix had made in a report by the U.K.’s Channel 4 “and other allegations do not represent the values or operations of the firm and his suspension reflects the seriousness with which we view this violation.”
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The suspension is coming days after a former employee of the firm accused his former employers of mishandling the personal information of more than 50 million Facebook users in an effort to help Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Christopher Wylie, who helped found Cambridge Analytica and worked there until late 2014, told ABC News the company would use the information, including Facebook users’ hometowns, friends and “likes” to influence the behaviour of potential voters.
Four days ago, Facebook suspended Cambridge Analytica, a data-analysis firm that worked for the Trump campaign, while it investigates whether the company held onto improperly obtained user data after telling Facebook it had deleted the information.
The social network said in a blog post that the firm violated its policies by receiving user data from a Facebook app created by a University of Cambridge professor.
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