The Cambridge Analytica’s scandal has been covered quite a lot lately. The allegedly illegal buying of Facebook’s data points has resulted in a $1.2 billion fine for Zuckerberg’s company and, most importantly, a separated GDPR article which has resulted in a deep regulation on data science and data gathering (especially when done for marketing goals). With this being said, let’s analyse how this big event will reshape every business from now on. 

Data Gathering 

The main problem related to the Cambridge Analytica’s scandal was the fact that data points which were used for the creation of highly tailored ad campaigns online weren’t regulated in any form. Facebook was, in fact, passively gathering data points from every user specifically focusing their acquisition on their political preferences. Not only this has been extremely impactful for the success of Trump’s campaign and the Brexit one. The entire matter has been brilliantly explained in the movie/documentary “The Great Hack” by Netflix. 

GDPR In Simpler Terms For This Matter 

The specific section of GDPR related to data acquisition has definitely quite stated how the digital field is being valued as of today from a legal perspective. It isn’t possible, in fact, that a colossus like Facebook could passively gather data without letting its users know what’s actually happening. GDPR was simply stating how each individual organization who’s working with data visualization and data gathering should admit how every single data point is being gathered from the users who are using their portal(s). Although very strict in regards to this matter, GDPR still leaves spaces to data scientist to process legally acquired data. 

From a Technical Perspective 

In regards to software building, many app developers who are working on technical due diligence within this very matter have stated how impactful the overall GDPR legislation has been on their end. In fact, when building specific parts of software, you must now declare how you are gathering data, for which purpose and with which frequency. Building software which is relying on this very matter has definitely become massive in a growing industry which, regardless of the recent scandal, still operates at the highest speed in both development and production.

To Conclude 

Although very negative, the Cambridge Analytica scandal still has left a ray of light in the world of data science and data processing. What will happen now to the world of data science is a mystery, but we can still safely say it will be valued in bigger companies. 

Catherine Gomez