Security News > 2020 > March > Tech Must Be Treated Like Tobacco, Says Facebook Whistleblower
Facebook and other tech companies need to be regulated like the tobacco industry, warned Christopher Wylie, the whistleblower who exposed the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
The data scientist revealed how he helped the disgraced company, founded by Donald Trump's former right-hand man Steve Bannon, to use unauthorised personal data harvested from Facebook to help swing a string of elections, including Trump's US presidential win in 2016.
Despite Facebook being fined a record $5 billion in the US last year for "Deceiving" users about keeping their information safe, Wylie said the world has yet to wake up to the consequences of the scandal.
Wylie details in his book "Mindf*ck" how personality profiles mined from Facebook were weaponised to "Radicalise" individuals through psychographic profiling and targeting techniques.
"They bought the message that the tech industry is good and they can do no wrong. What we're now seeing is that big tech is just like any other industry. When push comes to shove, when it affects profit, they make decisions just like an oil or tobacco company would," he added.