7 Things to Know About the Trump-Facebook-Cambridge Analytica Scandal

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Tuesday, March 20, 2018

1. Ted Cruz Campaign Used the Data in 2015

Although Cambridge Analytica's mining of Facebook profile data has been tied to Donald Trump's campaign, a different Republican presidential hopeful first received access back in 2015.

A 2015 Guardian article noted that the presidential campaign of U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas had used the mined Facebook data, with the publication referring to Analytica as being "embedded within Cruz's campaign."

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"Cruz has turned to Cambridge Analytica for its unparalleled offering of psychological data based on a treasure trove of Facebook 'likes,' allowing it to match individuals' traits with existing voter datasets, such as who owned a gun," reported the Guardian in Dec. 2015.

"Analysis of Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings shows Cruz's campaign has paid Cambridge Analytica at least $750,000 this year."

In a statement released Tuesday by a spokesperson, Cruz's office said that the usage of the data was legal and that "all data used by them were obtained legally."