, Columnist
Cambridge Analytica Knew How to Sell ... Cambridge Analytica
It boasted of its crucial role in Trump's victory, and plenty of people believed it. But the science behind psychometric targeting is shaky.
The hidden persuaders may not have swayed many.
Photographer: Chesnot/Getty ImagesIt’s possible that despite capturing Facebook data on 50 million people, Cambridge Analytica didn’t actually accomplish anything noteworthy in the realm of politics. At the center of the company’s claim to significance is a technique for turning people’s Facebook “likes” into psychological profiles, and a further claim that these profiles rendered victims vulnerable to manipulation.
But scientific papers used to back those claims leave doubt as to whether the company’s technique was likely to work as advertised.