Sex, Secrets & Spies - Cambridge Analytica's Hustle & Hacks

Britain’s Channel 4 News gave Cambridge Analytica CEO Alexander Nix a taste of his own medicine. Their undercover video should be nominated for the Investigative Journalism of the Year award.

The video's outcome shocked the world. The data of over 50 million Facebook users was illegally obtained and exposed. This scandal is already being labeled Watergate 2.0.

Based on the breach, investigators from Britain’s data watchdog Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) have spent nearly seven hours searching the London HQ of Cambridge Analytica.

America’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has confirmed it is conducting an open, non-public investigation into Facebook’s privacy practices.

A UK Parliamentary committee wants Mark Zuckerberg to appear and testify about the catastrophic Facebook privacy failure.

Does Suspended Cambridge Analytica CEO Alexander Nix Have Blood On His Hands?

The role of mastermind manipulator Alexander Nix seems more than obscure. He is being investigated for data breaches and smear campaigns and might also have blood on his hands.

Alexander Nix, who seems to have the characteristics of a psychopath, was knowingly stealing and 'selling' people’s political preferences to shady regimes, dictators, and warlords. For money and power. He was unwilling to accept responsibility for his actions.

If you have seen the undercover video, it’s too obvious to ignore. You don’t have to be an investigative journalist to understand the impact of his actions.

In the Channel 4 News video, Nix was recorded bragging that:

“His company had managed to influence more than 200 elections around the world.”

Nix also mentions some countries like Kenia, Nigeria, and Pakistan.

Every sane person on our planet with a purpose in life will understand what dictators and warlords do with their political opponents. They punish them, torture them, or kill them. You don’t need to be Einstein or Hawking to get that.

Nix's colleagues told in the same video how proud they were to have:

“Successfully infected the bloodstream of the internet with smear campaigns, using Facebook, and Google."

That’s like leaking poison into the Amazon River. If the well's source is infected, everyone drinking the Kool-Aid will get sick.

Who knows what else Nix and team hacked? Into our private Messenger and WhatsApp conversations? Private conversations on Instagram? Facebook owns all these platforms.

And how did team Nix use Google?

Here's the Channel 4 News undercover video.

A Message To News Media And The World?

This is an important signal to the News Media. And a few white, old men who control traditional media and newspapers: You have editorial teams, unlike Facebook. Make sure they check someone’s background thoroughly before you launch him as a mastermind on your screen.

Same to the business conferences that put Nix on their stage as a keynote speaker to spread his lies: Conference planning used to be an art, but now it’s a science too. Content should be king, not some manipulator who is a bad role model for entrepreneurs with true passion and purpose. Check who you release on your stage.

To the news media who have been complaining about fake news, social media smear, and the Facebook-Google duopoly: Now is your time. Now you can show the world why investigative journalists matter.

Forget sensation, the need for eyeballs, paid subscribers, and paywalls. This is not only about Brexit and Trump. This should also go beyond Facebook’s stock price.

This scandal involves our freedom of speech and has endangered our global democracy. And outside our Western world, people might have even been tortured over their political preferences. It’s a journalistic responsibility to find and share the facts with the people.

I hope the news media are capable of using advanced, data-driven, automated journalism tactics. A new approach is essential to uncover the full truth in this scandal. Images, audio files, and even live video streams will have to be investigated frame by frame. That’s what's needed to dismantle cyber hackers.

I don’t know about the U.S., but this breach of data and privacy is why the EU launched GDPR in May 2018.

Mark Zuckerberg - His Ongoing Unethical Role in Facebook’s Epic Fail

Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg's role in this scandal is already under investigation. Zuckerberg seems to be tone-deaf about Facebook’s role in this massive breach.

People may doubt whether it’s his Asperger's or if he has commercial reasons to be in denial.

Zuckerberg was smart enough to control his shares and his board of directors. But he seems delusional about his responsibility and approach. He has the skills of American illusionist Harry Houdini.

Mark didn't pull a rabbit out of his hat; he turned Facebook into a deep, dark rabbit hole. Probably WhatsApp and Instagram as well.

First, he disappeared for 5 days. While every news medium on Earth tried to track him down. When he and his COO, Sheryl Sandberg, finally got on TV, they showed they didn’t deserve our trust.

Their performances lacked empathy, felt utterly scripted, and were a bunch of Hollywood-like bullshit.

And just as Zuckerberg apologized to the world on CNN, he was under fire again. Last Sunday, he was forced to acknowledge that Facebook had been collecting the call and text message history of users who signed up for Messenger or Facebook Lite on Android for years.

He claims Facebook did so with users' permission. He and Sandberg made it sound like people were stupid and that Facebook stayed within privacy laws. They really seem to have no clue about ethics and fair trade.

Zuckerberg should resign. His ongoing lack of transparency, responsibility, and empathy makes him unfit to lead. He suffers from amnesia when he needs it. But people remember this is the fifth or sixth time Zuckerberg has sworn to protect our privacy going forward. I’ve lost count.

But this time, Mark, there is no going forward. Whether the FTC convicts Zuckerberg or not. The people have already convicted him. #DeleteFacebook is just the start.

People formerly known as keyboard activists have started this movement.

And brands will have to leave the platform too. They should have already done that when team Zuckerberg sneakily tricked them into EdgeRank. That was another breach of trust.

People will also start to understand that their data on WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram is probably unsafe. The same team controls all these platforms: Zuckerberg and Sandberg.

It’s clear that karma has no deadline. Remember how Zuckerberg “got” his Facebook? That’s precisely how he will lose it.

My Opinion On Reinventing the American Dream and Reengineering Global Brand Strategies

When I first watched the Channel 4 News video, I could not believe it. I looked everywhere to see if it wasn't fake news.

This whole scandal reminded me of the 1998 thriller Enemy of the State.  It stars Gene Hackman and Will Smith. Do you remember the movie?

Twenty years ago, futurists predicted that data would be the new oil.

This is the time for news media to show what they are really made of. News media can now win back the trust of global audiences and slay fake news and smear campaigns. They need to give people objective and unbiased truth.

It is also a huge opportunity for the U.S. to unlearn and relearn. Most people in Europe and Asia see the current domestic mindset as wholly inappropriate.

Outside the U.S., people have ancient and sophisticated cultures. They have different values when it comes to ethics. We will turn our backs on smear campaigns, manipulations, accusations, and Hollywood-like scripted statements.

We demand that our data be secured and protected. We don’t want ongoing unethical behaviors to poison our lives. We will use firewalls and create new laws to prevent these false intentions. We will even launch laws to protect us from these violations. That’s why the EU will launch GDPR in May 2018.

This time we will put “Europe First”.

To investors, VCs, and entrepreneurs in the U.S.: Maybe it’s time to reinvent the American Dream. Evaluate if the current one is indeed the recipe for success outside the U.S.

Investors betting on U.S. firms that can win Europe and Asia? You should take a crash course on inclusion and diversity. Most U.S. firms and their boards are too biased to achieve world domination. The same goes for news media.

Think beyond campaigns if you want the rest of the world to buy into your brand storytelling. Rethink your global brand strategy. We need to believe in your profound purpose, and we need to trust you.

If you don’t? You will be limited to your small market size of just 325 million people. So, for those who need global growth? May the math be with you.

For the ones who want to discover the real world? Start thinking outside 'your box'. Pack your suitcase, get a passport, and travel the world.

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About the Author

In the spotlights, Igor Beuker is a top marketing innovation keynote speaker and futurist known for his foresight on trends and technologies that impact business, economy, and society. Behind the scenes, a serial entrepreneur with 5 exits and an angel investor in 24 social startups. Board member at next-level media firms, changemaker at Rolling Stone Culture Council, pioneer of a Hollywood sci-fi think tank, award-winning marketing strategist for Amazon, L’Oréal, and Nike, and a seer for Fortune 500s, cities, and countries.