Douglas Alger

I watched this documentary already believing that data privacy is an issue. Didn’t need to convince me there. I was hoping to learn more about how my data was being misused. Unfortunately, the documentary felt like it was politically motivated and was simply trying to discredit the 2016 US Presidential Election and the Brexit campaign. I still am failing to understand how Cambridge Analytica did anything different than every other campaign in the history of the world has done - I.e. attempt to find and convince undecided voters how they should vote. Sometimes with questionable emotional arguments. Same goes with every marketing company ever. This was not a shock to me. They were just more effective than many previous practitioners. Don’t get me wrong, I see the danger in the amount of personal data out there and how it can result in creating a political echo chamber for either side of the aisle. Unfortunately, the documentary only gave brief play to this concept and how it is enabled by the tech companies and those who misuse the data they collect/provide. It spent way too much time following around a single conflicted Cambridge Analytica worker/exec without exploring enough of how the data was actually misused and how it actually resulted in ‘unfair’ results. It essentially made an early assumption that anyone trying to convince people of a viewpoint based on the data they provide via Facebook/Google/etc was evil. I just can’t make that leap without additional information which shows a more sinister motive or action. An opportunity was missed, if indeed that did occur. Giving credit where it’s due, I thought they gave a fair shake to the Cambridge Analytica CTO who I felt was the most honest individual and least politically motivated of the group. I felt he had the most accurate take on the whole situation. Usually, one sided documentaries don’t give a fair forum to those they seek to demonize so I give credit for allowing the man to provide his viewpoint. In summary, I still see the danger of all of that personal data being out there and individuals not having ownership and control of their own data. However, this documentary didn’t provide me with any further information which I didn’t already know or common sense didn’t suggest.