Facebook Will Let You Check if Cambridge Analytica Got Access to Your Data

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. Facebook disclosed in a blog post on Wednesday that political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica accessed the private data of a considerably larger number of people than was previously known. "In total, we believe the Facebook information of up to 87 million people--mostly in the US--may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica," he wrote. The New York Times and other outlets have been reporting that about 50 million people were affected based on information from whistleblower Christopher Wylie, who formerly worked at Cambridge Analytica. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg clarified later in a press call that 87 million was the maximum number of accounts that Cambridge Analytica could have accessed, though the actual number is probably lower.