Lessons from the Cambridge Analytica Facebook data scandal

Cambridge Analytica

If you have been following the undiluted narratives of the Cambridge Analytica-Facebook user data heist, then you would realise how powerful ‘data’ is.

Many of us can now understand that with data, anything is possible. We have also seen how dangerous data can be when it falls into the hands of the wrong people.

However, the most instructive aspect of this scandal is that Cambridge Analytica is a digital advertising company that makes use of high-performance data mining techniques and tools to develop marketing campaigns that were weaponized to change or manipulate voters’ mindset using micro-targeting and in-depth profiles gleaned from the stolen data.
Despite the fact that Cambridge Analytica stole people’s Facebook data and used it for misinformation and propaganda does not mean that data cannot be collected and used legally without breaching laws.
The most important lessons for marketing people is that data is very important to our profession and the earlier we invest in legal in data collection, mining and analytics the better for us and our budgets.
The exercise of data collection, mining and analytics might be cumbersome, it is, however, a rewarding investment.

First published in NEXTGEN, a weekly newsletter of SBI Media.

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