The CEO of Cambridge Analytica, the data firm used by Donald Trump\u2019s presidential campaign, boasted to an undercover reporter about the company\u2019s use of honey traps and secretive campaigning tactics to influence elections around the world.<\/p>\n
Filmed as part of an investigation by Channel 4 News<\/a>, which aired Monday, Alexander Nix told an undercover reporter posing as a prospective client that his company could gather damaging material about opponents using a range of tactics including sending \u201csome girls round to the candidate\u2019s house.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll offer a large amount of money to the candidate to finance his campaign in exchange for land, for instance, we\u2019ll have the whole thing recorded on cameras. We\u2019ll blank out the face of our guy and we\u2019ll then post it on the internet,\u201d Nix said.<\/p>\n The fresh allegations intensify pressure on the data company, already in the spotlight<\/a> following reports in the New York Times<\/a> and the Observer<\/a> that the company illegally collected Facebook data from roughly 50 million American voters. This information, the newspapers suggested, allowed Cambridge Analytica to target messaging to these voters based on their personal lives and political leanings.<\/p>\n Facebook said Monday<\/a> it had hired a digital forensics firm, Stroz Friedberg, to conduct an audit of Cambridge Analytica. The social network said Friday<\/a> it had suspended Cambridge Analytica\u2019s access to its platform over concerns it had violated the network\u2019s privacy policies by obtaining information without users\u2019 consent.<\/p>\n According to Channel 4 News, a spokesperson for Cambridge Analytica told the program: \u201cWe entirely refute any allegation that Cambridge Analytica or any of its affiliates use entrapment, bribes or so-called \u2018honey traps\u2019 for any purpose whatsoever\u201d and added the company does not use \u201cuntrue material.\u201d<\/p>\n Both Facebook and Cambridge Analytica may now face investigations across Europe<\/a>. The U.K. Information Commissioner\u2019s Office said Monday an ongoing investigation into political campaigning using personal data will include \u201cany new information, statements or evidence that have come to light in recent days.\u201d<\/p>\n