The Cambridge Analytica scandal caused shockwaves on both sides of the Atlantic in 2018. Documents leaked indicated the company, run by Stephen Bannon, a former aid of Donald Trump, had misused data obtained from Facebook to build voter profiles. It was the worst data breach in Facebook’s history, with 87 million profiles affected. There were also claims of a link to Russia, which caused further outrage.
Senator Richard Blumenthal described the revelations on Twitter as “Wanton theft and chilling privacy invasion require immediate Congressional hearings – and action”.