A Canadian consultancy called AggregateIQ has been linked to the massive data breach at social media company Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and appeared before a Parliamentary Committee in Ottawa to answer questions about its role in the global controversy.
In testimony Tuesday, Jeff Silvester of B.C.-based AggregateIQ insisted that his company’s services, which include digital ads, website creation and software development, are widely used by Canada’s major political parties. He added that his seven person political consultancy has never broken the law and only offers electoral support comparable to traditional door-knocking, phone canvassing and lawn signs during elections.
“We are not data harvesters by any stretch of the imagination and, certainly, we don’t do psychographic profiling or profiling of any other type,” Mr. Silvester told the House of Commons committee that is looking into the Facebook data breach that has impacted about 630,000 Canadians. “We’re not psychologists, we’re tech guys.”
The appearance in Ottawa by AggregateIQ’s executives came a couple of weeks after their Victoria firm was suspended by social-media giant Facebook following reports of its alleged connection to British political consultancy Cambridge Analytica.
AggregateIQ is also under investigation by privacy commissioners in Ottawa, B.C. and the United Kingdom for its alleged role in the controversy that has engulfed Cambridge Analytica, which has been accused of improperly using private Facebook information from millions of users to influence voters and help Donald Trump win the 2016 U.S. presidential race.
The Cambridge Analytica controversy has forced policy-makers and regulators around the globe to consider how to better protect users’ online data. Facebook estimates the personal information of 622,161 users in Canada and nearly 87 million worldwide was accessed by Cambridge Analytica without authorization.
AggregateIQ was connected to the scandal following allegations made by Canadian data expert and whistle-blower Christopher Wylie, who previously worked for Cambridge Analytica. Mr. Silvester compared AggregateIQ’s work to the campaign efforts of volunteers and of political candidates.
“The ads that we show _ it’s the digital equivalent of an ad on someone’s lawn or on a street corner,” he told the Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics. “You choose where you want it go, you put your message on there and people drive by and see it. And it’s the same for the Internet and same with going door-to-door and the same with making phone calls.”
