Ted Cruz says Cambridge Analytica told his presidential campaign its data use was legal

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign was assured the much-touted data firm it used during the 2016 race, Cambridge Analytica, was operating above the board, a spokeswoman for the U.S. senator said Tuesday, weighing in as the company faced growing scrutiny over its practices. 

Cruz’s data-driven 2016 campaign relied on Cambridge Analytica for over $5.8 million in services, according to Federal Election Commission records, before the firm went on to work for the Republican Party’s nominee and now-president, Donald Trump. On Friday, Facebook announced it was suspending Cambridge Analytica from the social network ahead of reports that it had improperly harvested information from the profiles of over 50 million users. The firm has denied any wrongdoing.

Cruz spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said in a statement: “In explicit contractual language, Cambridge Analytica affirmatively represented that all data used by them were obtained legally, that they would conduct their operations ‘in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations,’ and that they ‘hold all necessary permits, licenses and consents to conduct its operations.’ The campaign relied upon those representations throughout our engagement, which were reiterated by Cambridge Analytica upon inquiries of the media back in 2015, when they assured us the claims made in the press were false.”

As controversy has mounted over the firm’s practices in recent days, Democrats have sought to make Cruz answer for its starring role in his White House bid. The Texas Democratic Party issued a statement Monday afternoon saying Cruz “will stop at nothing to weasel his way into power, even if it means weaponizing stolen information to manipulate people to like him.” And on Monday night, Cruz’s Democratic opponent, U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke of El Paso got in on the action, tweeting a dig at Cambridge Analytica’s claims of sophisticated voter targeting. 

“We also wanted to know what was on Texans’ minds,” O’Rourke said. “So we’ve been showing up and asking them in person at hundreds of town halls across the state.”


Source: Texas Tribune Blue News

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