Meta, at the time Facebook, had to face one of the biggest crises of credibility we have ever experienced in the tech sector when it learned about the tricks used by Cambridge Analytica, using data from the social network to try to influence some very important electoral processes, such as the British the referendum to leave the European Union (popularly known as Brexit) or the 2016 US presidential election.

As you may recall, the inference attempts focused on Facebook profiles that were intended to be undecided voters, and they received large amounts of advertising exposure for weeks to sway their opinion (and therefore their vote) toward one of the options. In both processes, the polls show very, very close distances between the main options (yes or no on Brexit and Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump in the presidential election), so it was clear to analysts from the beginning that in both elections a tie would play a decisive role.

The problem is that Cambridge Analytica, a London-based political advertising and data analytics firm founded in 2013 that operated primarily in the United States, illegally obtained data from millions of Facebook users without their knowledge or consent (or, allegedly, even from Facebook) and then used this data to create user profiles and personalized ads to influence public opinion and voting behavior.

With the Cambridge Analytica scandal, public opinion about Facebook has changed significantly and many users have decided to delete their profiles on the social network or at least stop posting on it as often as before. Moreover, news of security flaws, data mismanagement and other revelations soon began to emerge, leaving the name of Facebook, once one of the great technology companies, in the country.

However, with this scandal, Facebook not only had to face an image crisis, but several legal processes were also launched against the company, which, due to insufficient protection of its users’ data, allowed data shredding, a technique used by Cambridge Analytica to obtain it. .

Although Meta has never admitted its guilt over the events at Cambridge Analytica, we know today from Reuters that the company has reached a settlement with a group of plaintiffs, and therefore will pay $275 million to avoid trial. An agreement, however, which has yet to be ratified by a judge and which, according to technology, has been reached”in the best interests of our community and shareholders«.

And I wonder if it was in the best interest of his community to protect his data at the time. But of course, what do I know?