An academic who developed the app used by Cambridge Analytica to harvest data from millions of Facebook users said Wednesday that he had no idea his work would be used in Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and that he's being scapegoated in the fallout from the affair. Alexandr Kogan, a psychology researcher at Cambridge University, told the BBC that both Facebook and Cambridge Analytica have tried to place the blame on him for violating the social media platform's terms of service, even though Cambridge Analytica ensured him that everything he did was legal. "My view is that I'm being basically used as a scapegoat by both Facebook and Cambridge Analytica," he said. "Honestly, we thought we were acting perfectly appropriately, we thought we were doing something that was really normal." Authorities in Britain and the United States are investigating the alleged improper use of Facebook data by Cambridge Analytica, a U.K.-based political research firm.

A UK-based academic whose app harvested the data of 50 million Facebook users has claimed he is being made a scapegoat by the social media company and Cambridge Analytica. Aleksandr Kogan, a psychology lecturer at Cambridge University, developed a personality app which amassed a huge cache of personal information from Facebook for the British political consultancy accused of an illegal data grab. Cambridge Analytica (CA) is alleged to have used the information to help Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and on Tuesday suspended its chief executive, Alexander Nix, after he was secretly recorded boasting about the firm's pivotal role in the US election. MPs have summoned Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to give evidence over the "catastrophic failure of process" behind the breach and have accused the social media giant of misleading Parliament about how companies acquired and held user data. Facebook, which also faces an investigation by the US Federal Trade Commission, has suspended activity for CA and Dr Kogan for violating its policies.

Karim Khan is suing the CIA for the deaths of his son and brother in a drone strike. Pakistani journalist Karim Khan's son Zahinullah Khan and brother Asif Iqbal were killed when a CIA drone attacked Karim's home in December 2009.

TechRepublic's Dan Patterson and Daniel Scarvalone, director at Bully Pulpit Interactive, talk about how automation will be the key to the future of politics and policy. Dan Patterson: What role will AI machine learning and automation play this year and in the future? Dan Scarvalone: Machine learning has always played a role in campaigns, and the way marketers more sift through data available on current and potential customers, to figure out, "who should we be speaking to, and what should we be saying to them?" The real growth will be in the ways we use machine learning to marry with the political intuition we know, and the marketing intuition we know, regarding the best way to achieve a goal. We'll find more ways to apply decision making to each and every way a candidate spends its time.

Security professionals in the enterprise are facing an uphill battle to maintain control of corporate networks. Data breaches and cyberattacks are rampant, sensitive information belonging to both companies and individuals is spilling unchecked into the underbelly of the Internet, and with the emergence of state-sponsored threat actors, it is becoming more and more difficult for organizations to keep up. It is estimated the cyberattacks and online threats will cost businesses up to $6 trillion annually by 2021, up from $3 trillion in 2015. Once cyberattackers compromise an enterprise network or cloud service, information can be stolen, surveillance may be conducted, or in some cases, ransomware attacks can lock down an entire operation and hold a business to ransom. However, new technologies are entering the cybersecurity space which may help reduce the financial cost and burden on cybersecurity professionals pressed for time and often operating with limited staff and budgets.

As Mark Hamill humorously shared the behind-the-scenes of "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" with a packed SXSW audience, two floors below on the exhibit floor Universal Robots recreated General Grievous' famed light saber battles. The battling machines were steps away from a twelve foot dancing Kuka robot and an automated coffee dispensary. Somehow the famed interactive festival known for its late night drinking, dancing and concerts had a very mechanical feel this year. Everywhere debates ensued between utopian tech visionaries and dystopia-fearing humanists. Even my panel on "Investing In The Autonomy Economy" took a very social turn when discussing the opportunities of utilizing robots for the growing aging population.

An academic who created an app which harvested data from 50 million Facebook users says he has been made "a scapegoat" for Facebook and UK firm Cambridge Analytica. Dr Aleksandr Kogan completed work for Cambridge Analytica in 2014, but said he had no idea the data would be used to benefit Donald Trump's US presidential campaign. Facebook says Dr Kogan violated the site's policies. Last night, Alexander Nix, the chief executive of Cambridge Analytica, was suspended, having been secretly filmed by Channel 4 News appearing to suggest the company could use tactics to discredit politicians online. The company says the programme "grossly misrepresented" Mr Nix's conversation.

An academic who created an app which harvested data from 50 million users says he has been made "a scapegoat" for Facebook and Cambridge Analytica. Dr Aleksandr Kogan completed work for Cambridge Analytica in 2014, but said he had no idea the data would be used to benefit Donald Trump's campaign. The psychology academic said he wanted the data so he could model human behaviour through social media. Facebook says Dr Kogan violated the site's policies. The Cambridge University researcher developed a personality survey called This is Your Digital Life.

Due to robotics' interactions with humans, one might expect all possible care would be taken to ensure the devices are digitally secure; however, that appears not to be the case. In the introduction to their paper Hacking Robots Before Skynet (PDF), authors Cesar Cerrudo, CTO at IOActive, and Lucas Apa, Senior Security Consultant at IOActive, write, "Similar to other new technologies, we've found robot technology to be insecure in a variety of ways, and that insecurity could pose serious threats to the people, animals, and organizations they operate in and around." Add the explosive growth of robotic devices to the potential for serious harm, and one begins to understand why Cerrudo and Apa are concerned. SEE: Robots in warehouses to jump 15X over next 4 years, but won't take all the jobs (TechRepublic) As to how Cerrudo and Apa determined whether robotic devices are insecure, they employed IOActive's hacking experts to build cyberattack tools geared for robot ecosystems. "A robot ecosystem is comprised of the physical robot, an operating system, firmware, software, mobile/remote control applications, vendor Internet services, cloud services, and networks," write the two authors.

The Niti Aayog will soon come out with a national policy on artificial intelligence, outlining the scope of research and for the adoption and commercialisation of the technology to counter China's thrust towards AI. The policy is expected to lay out short-, medium- and long-term goals to be achieved by 2022, 2026 and 2030, as India gears up to meet its commitment towards sustainable development goals, starting 2018. Under the policy, deadlines for commercial rollout of AI may also be proposed in areas like agriculture, health, education, banking, retail and transportation. It may also suggest incentives for startups and venture capital funds that undertake research and adoption of AI. These guidelines would be based on half a dozen pilots the Aayog has undertaken on AI in areas of agriculture, health, education and creation of other social infrastructure.