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Cambridge Analytica used powerful algorithms to trawl through Facebook user data, here’s how they worked

Facebook is under fire after admitting a political data firm improperly received access to profile data from tens of millions of users – and used it to try to sway voting habits. That firm, Cambridge Analytica, allegedly creates psychological profiles of voters and uses them to deliver highly targeted advertising campaigns. The firm denies wrongdoing but former staffer Christopher Wylie told the Today Show: “This was a company that really took fake news to the next level by powering it with algorithms.” Here’s how those algorithms work.