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Academic at the center of the scandal Cambridge Analytica is suing Facebook for defamation following claims by the social network that he lied about why he was collecting personal data from the site's profiles.
Aleksandr Kogan, a former psychology researcher at the University of Cambridge, has developed a personality quiz application that combines individual psychological profiles with personal data extracted from Facebook pages of their clients and online friends. These data were used as the basis of Cambridge Analytica's "psychometric" approach to target users with political ads tailored to their personality.
Facebook has always claimed to have been misled by Kogan about how the data was used, and suspended its access to the platform following the publication by Observer of the news of the data collection operation. Cambridge Analytica.
The social network said its rules prohibited such reuse of data – but Kogan has always argued that the terms and conditions of its own application explicitly state that the results would be used for other purposes.
Kogan sued, saying that Facebook's repeated attempts to blame him for the scandal were defamatory.
"Alex was not lying, Alex was not a fraud, Alex had not deceived them, it was not a scam," said Steve Cohen, Kogan's attorney at the New York Times, who first reported the trial. "Facebook knew exactly what this application was or should have known. Facebook was desperate for a scapegoat, and Alex was their scapegoat. "
In a statement, a Facebook spokesman said that Kogan's case was "a frivolous pursuit of someone who has recklessly violated our policies and endangered people's data."
Almost since the scandal broke out, Kogan has claimed that he was a scapegoat in a war between larger players. "Facebook and Cambridge Analytica essentially serve me as a scapegoat," he said in March 2018, a week after the announcement of the announcement. "Honestly, we thought we were fine. We thought we were doing something really normal.
The following month, Kogan appeared in front of British MPs and said, "I think [Facebook] realize that their platform was mined right and left by thousands of others and I was just the unlucky person who ended up being tied to the Trump campaign, and we are where we are.
"I think they're all aware of this, but PR is a PR and they are trying to handle the crisis so it's convenient to point to one entity and try to paint the picture: he is a rogue agent. "
Steve Cohen, Kogan's lawyer, told the Guardian: "Facebook knew or should have known that what they were saying about Dr. Kogan was not true. He did not lie to them and his work was not a "scam".
"In fact, Facebook had collaborated on several scientific articles about his work and Dr. Kogan told Facebook that the new version of the application would be used for commercial purposes. Just as he informed potential users. But in the face of growing criticism of his policy, Facebook has moved up a gear in public relations and found a convenient scapegoat at Dr. Kogan's. They have defamed it and we can not wait for a jury to decide the appropriate remedy.
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