Facebook announced in a blog post Wednesday that the amount of users whose data was compromised by Cambridge Analytica is now 87 million. (Source: Facebook Media)(RNN) – Facebook believes the information of up to 87 million users was improperly shared with data mining firm Cambridge Analytica, according to a company blog post.
A few weeks ago, the number of affected users was estimated to be 50 million.
On March 16, Facebook suspended Cambridge Analytica, a data-mining firm that worked for the Trump campaign in 2016. The company used data that was inappropriately obtained from Facebook users to try to influence elections, according to The New York Times and The Guardian.
Cambridge’s board of directors suspended CEO Alexander Nix pending an investigation after Nix boasted of various unsavory services to an undercover Channel 4 News reporter, according to the Associated Press.
On March 20, Channel 4 News showed clips that show Nix admitting his data-mining firm played a role in Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential election.
Trump’s campaign has distanced itself from the firm and claimed it did not use Cambridge’s data.
Cambridge has also denied wrongdoing.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has apologized for a “breach of trust” that occurred with the misuse of user data by Cambridge.
Facebook also included the preventative measures it’s taking in the blog post. In it, it promises to tell people if their information may have been improperly shared with Cambridge.
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