Aleksandr Kogan creates 'This Is Your Digital Life' Facebook app; data later used by Cambridge Analytica

confirmed Importance 8/10 ~1 min read 3 sources 4 actors

Regulatory Capture Electoral Manipulation

Cambridge University researcher Aleksandr Kogan developed a personality-quiz app that collected data via Facebook’s API and shared it with Cambridge Analytica. Regulators later documented deceptive practices; Facebook estimated up to ~87 million users were affected.

Sources & Citations

[1] UK Parliament DCMS—'Disinformation and fake news' (evidence) · Feb 18, 2019 Tier 2

[2] FTC administrative complaint—Cambridge Analytica, Nix & Kogan · Jul 24, 2019 Tier 1

[3] Hard Questions—Russian Ads Delivered to Congress (platform context) · Oct 2, 2017 Tier 2

Tiers Tier 1 court records & gov docs · Tier 2 established outlets · Tier 3 regional & specialty press · Tier 4 opinion or single-source. Methodology →

Cite this entry

The Cascade Ledger. “Aleksandr Kogan creates 'This Is Your Digital Life' Facebook app; data later used by Cambridge Analytica.” The Capture Cascade Timeline, June 1, 2013. https://capturecascade.org/event/2013-06-01--kogan-creates-facebook-data-harvesting-app/