The app developer whose work is at the center of the data privacy controversy currently engulfing Facebook and Cambridge Analytica told CBS’ “60 Minutes” he didn’t steal data and blamed the social media giant for its flawed privacy policies.
“The idea that we stole the data, I think, is technically incorrect,” said Aleksandr Kogan. “I mean, [Facebook] created these great tools for developers to collect the data. And they made it very easy. I mean, this was not a hack. This was, "Here's the door. It's open. We're giving away the groceries. Please collect them."
"The belief in Silicon Valley and certainly our belief ... was that the general public must be aware that their data is being sold and shared and used to advertise to them," Kogan said. "And nobody cares."
According to a New York Times report, Kogan harvested private information from more than 50 million Facebook users for the data-analysis firm Cambridge Analytica. Facebook later said the number was closer to 87 million. Kogan told Facebook and app users that he was collecting information for academic purposes.
Cambridge Analytica worked on Republican Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, though the White House has discounted the effort. The company has also said that none of the information was used in its work for the election.
Kogan, though, said he knew the information was going to be used for an upcoming election.
“And I had an understanding or a feeling that it was going to be for the Republican side,” he told CBS’ Lesley Stahl in an interview that aired Sunday night.
Kogan said he wasn’t hiding anything from Facebook, and that his terms of service stated he could disseminate, transfer or sell the data. Facebook’s developer policy, though, states that data cannot be transferred or sold.
“I'm not even sure if I read the developer policy back then,” Kogan said when Stahl asked about the policy.
“This is the frustrating bit, where Facebook clearly has never cared,” he added. “I mean, it never enforced this agreement. And they tell you that they can monitor it. And they can audit. And they'll let you know if you do anything wrong. I had a terms of service that was up there for a year and a half that said I could transfer and sell the data. Never heard a word. The belief in Silicon Valley and certainly our belief at that point was that the general public must be aware that their data is being sold and shared and used to advertise to them. And nobody cares.”
Kogan also said Facebook never took action against his co-worker, Joseph Chancellor.
“We did everything together,” Kogan said of Chancellor.
In the end, Kogan said the core idea “that everybody knows and nobody cares” how their information is being used, “was fundamentally flawed.”
“And so if that idea is wrong, then what we did was not right and was not wise. And for that, I'm sincerely sorry.”