{"id":75927,"date":"2018-03-24T17:56:17","date_gmt":"2018-03-25T00:56:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=75927"},"modified":"2018-03-24T17:56:17","modified_gmt":"2018-03-25T00:56:17","slug":"mod-gave-cambridge-analytica-parent-company-top-secret-defence-files-mp-demands-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2018\/03\/24\/mod-gave-cambridge-analytica-parent-company-top-secret-defence-files-mp-demands-probe\/","title":{"rendered":"MoD gave Cambridge Analytica parent company top secret defence files, MP demands probe"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 class=\"article__date\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em><time class=\"date date_article-header\">Courtesy RT<\/time><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n<div class=\"article__date\"><time class=\"date date_article-header\">Published time: 23 Mar, 2018 16:50<\/time><time class=\"date date_article-header\">Edited time: 24 Mar, 2018 09:09<\/time><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__short-url\">\n<div class=\"short-url\"><a class=\"short-url__link\" href=\"https:\/\/on.rt.com\/91qs\">Get short URL<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article__cover\">\n<div class=\"media__footer media__footer_bottom \"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article__share\">\n<div class=\"social-container\" data-buttons=\"facebook, twitter, reddit, google, telegram, fbmessenger, whatsapp\" data-counters=\"\">\n<p>New links between data harvesting firm Cambridge Analytica (CA) and the Ministry of Defence have surfaced. CA\u2019s parent company SCL was paid nearly \u00a3200,000 for two MoD projects which gave it access to top secret defence files.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"media__item \" src=\"https:\/\/cdni.rt.com\/files\/2018.03\/article\/5ab52d07dda4c8684e8b4625.jpg\" alt=\"MoD gave Cambridge Analytica parent company top secret defence files, MP demands probe\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article__text text \">\n<p>The chair of the Commons home affairs committee has now called for an investigation into CA\u2019s activities after it was revealed that SCL was granted \u2018List X\u2019 status by the Ministry of Defence until 2013 \u2013 which allowed access to secret defence documents. List X contractors have to abide by tough rules to ensure secret documents stay secure. CA is being investigated by the information commissioner over a huge leak of Facebook data allegedly used to influence the 2016 US presidential election.<\/p>\n<div class=\"rtcode\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"1521939252175_TBOtherPlayer_10\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6oTuVcrM0ww?enablejsapi=1\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Labour MP Yvette Cooper, chair of the committee, argued that SCL\/CA\u2019s access to the list had\u00a0<em>implications for democracy,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0and questioned whether the<em>\u00a0information [was] being used in an illegitimate way.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Given the mounting concerns about Cambridge Analytica\u2019s disregard for proper standards, particularly on information and data protection, we ought to know what the government contracts were with Cambridge Analytica or SCL and what access to information they had,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Cooper said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"arcticle__read-more read-more\">\n<div class=\"read-more__title\">Read more<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"read-more__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rt.com\/uk\/421939-cambridge-analytica-tory-pmq\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"read-more__cover\" src=\"https:\/\/cdni.rt.com\/files\/2018.03\/thumbnail\/5ab25f19dda4c886088b45c3.jpg\" alt=\"Alexander Nix, CEO of Cambridge Analytica arrives at the offices of Cambridge Analytica in central London, Britain, March 20, 2018. \u00a9 Henry Nicholls\" \/><span class=\"read-more__footer\">May ambushed in parliament over Tories\u2019 extensive links to shady research firm Cambridge Analytica<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<p>SCL was hired by the MoD for two projects in<em>\u00a0human and social influence\u201d<\/em>\u00a0work. \u2018Project Duco,\u2019 as the assignment was dubbed, analysed how people would interact with certain types of government messaging. The team included psychologists and analysts working to assess how\u00a0<em>target audience analysis\u201d<\/em>\u00a0could be utilised by the UK government.<\/p>\n<p>Over the course of the project in 2014, it\u2019s understood that MoD officials raised issues with SCL\u2019s data management. They noted concerns over\u00a0<em>rudimentary security mechanisms in place (eg a locked cabinet).\u201d<\/em>\u00a0The report stated:<em>\u00a0It is not thought that they have the capability to handle any electronic material above unclassified not considered the secure dissemination of documents.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Despite this, the MoD has since insisted that there was no recorded data breaches by SCL during the time it was contracted.<\/p>\n<p>According to a heavily redacted document released under freedom of information rules, SCL was paid \u00a3150,000 for the 2014 project. The company was also paid \u00a340,000 for work carried out in 2010-11.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rt.com\/uk\/422031-cambridge-analytica-offices-sealed-suspect\/\">READ MORE:\u00a0Cambridge Analytica\u2019s London offices sealed off over \u2018suspect package\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Although the MoD has worked with the embattled data firm in years past, it no longer has any links to the SCL group. An MoD spokesman said:<em>\u00a0We have no current relationship or contracts with the SCL Group, which includes Cambridge Analytica. As such, the company has no access to any classified information.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Cambridge Analytica has been under fire this week after a whistleblower detailed how the company had paid an academic to harvest the data of 50 million Facebook users to build profiles of American voters before the 2016 US election.<\/p>\n<div class=\"rtcode\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"1521939252178_TBOtherPlayer_20\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/B_7jlL_BeSc?enablejsapi=1\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Channel 4 News also ran an expose that caught CA executives on camera explaining the illegal methods used by the company to assist their clients \u2013 including the entrapment of rival political candidates in fake bribery stings and hiring of\u00a0<em>Ukrainian women\u201d<\/em>\u00a0to go on\u00a0<em>holidays.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In one recording, the company\u2019s CEO Alexander Nix can be seen telling undercover reporters:\u00a0<em>It sounds a dreadful thing to say, but these are things that don\u2019t necessarily need to be true as long as they\u2019re believed.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Nix has since been suspended while the Information Commissioner is still seeking a warrant to raid the office. An application for a warrant to search Cambridge Analytica&#8217;s London offices was postponed until Friday.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Courtesy RT Published time: 23 Mar, 2018 16:50Edited time: 24 Mar, 2018 09:09 Get short URL New links between data harvesting firm Cambridge Analytica (CA) and the Ministry of Defence have surfaced. CA\u2019s parent company SCL was paid nearly \u00a3200,000 for two MoD projects which gave it access to top secret defence files. The chair [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75927\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}