The

The Dangers and Reality of Big Data Summary

Michal Kosinski accepted into Cambridge to finish PhD at Psychometrics Center (2008)

Michal Kosinski and David Stillwell create MyPersonality App for / own largest dataset combining psychometric scores and Facebook information.

Cambridge Analytica is created by/out of a larger big data company, SCL (2013).

Aleksander Kogan (later, Dr. A. Spectre) approaches Kosinski on behalf of SCL, or Strategic Communication Laboratories, about a job, Kosinski declines (2014).

BREXIT- campaign, Leave.EU announces it has commissioned support its online campaign (2015)

Trump names C.E.O. of Cambridge Analytica, Alexander Nix his new digital strategy consultant. (2016)

Trump’s Presidency Basic Understanding

Useful Translations:

• Psychometrics- the science of measuring mental capacities and processes; a data driven sub-branch of psychology.

• Big Data- Extremely large data sets that may be analyzed computationally to reveal patterns, trends and associations, especially relating to human behavior and interactions; a collection of our recorded digital traces we leave both on and offline.

“Important” People

• Michal Kosinski

• Alexander James Ashburner Nix

• Aleksander Kogan

•

• Steve Bannon

• What makes up Big Data?

“Every purchase we make with our cards, every search we type into Google, every movement we make when our mobile phone is in our pocket, every "like" is stored. Especially every "like."

Look familiar? It should, this is you in data form. Feel old yet? Big Data

Contributions to Kosinski’s big data archive:

• The Big Five

• MyPersonality App

• Facebook The Big Five

1. Openness

2. Conscientiousness

3. Extroversion

4. Agreeableness

5. Neuroticism MyPersonality App

• A popular Facebook application that allowed users to take real psychometric tests and allowed a third party to record (with permission) their psychological and Facebook profiles. Fun Fact:

In 2012, Kosinski proved that on the basis of an average of 68 Facebook "likes" by a user, it was possible to predict their skin color (with 95 percent accuracy), their sexual orientation (88 percent accuracy), and their affiliation to the Democratic or Republican party (85 percent).

Kosinski Vs. Cambridge Analytica

Kosinski Cambridge Analytica

1. Purchase of personal data from ranges of different sources (land registries, 1. Provided test subjects with automotive data, shopping data, questionnaire/quiz, memberships, etc.)

2. from their responses, the psychologists 2. Aggregates data with the electoral rolls calculated the personal Big Five values of the Republican Party and online data of respondents.

3. Then compared the results with all sorts 3. Calculates Big Five personality profile of other online data from the subjects: based on data what they "liked," shared or posted on Facebook, or what gender, age, place of 4. Assesses “communicable” approach to residence they specified, for example. targeted audience based on community values, needs, wants, etc. 4. Observe and note correlations. Political Chess

• Cambridge Analytica divided the United States into 32 personality types

• Focused on only 17 states

• Carefully projected fitting messages/ads based on data analysis of personality types

• Then, BAM! How much?

• Around a dozen people working for Cambridge Analytica aided Donald Trump’s online campaign.

• They received $100,000 in July.

• $250,000 in August.

• $5 million in September.

• According to Nix the company earned a total of around $15 million dollars. SCL

“We've worked with brands, political organizations and advocacy groups all over the world, and our methodology has been approved by the UK Ministry of Defence, the US State Department, Sandia National Laboratories and NATO.”

With focus on….

• Commercial

• Elections (Ukraine, Columbia, Latvia, Taiwan,India, UK)

• Social

• Defence (Mexico, Nepal,Afghanistan) Websites of Interest

K Kosinski’s Questionnaire: https://applymagicsauce.com

Classic OCEAN test: http://mypersonality.org/wiki/doku.php

MyPersonalityApp/Website: https://discovermyprofile.com/personality.html

Strategic Communications Laboratory Website: https://sclgroup.cc