Facebook: 87 million users exposed in data mining scandal

Facebook on Wednesday dramatically increased the number of users whose data likely ended up in the hands of Cambridge Analytica, the political consulting firm linked to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. At the end of a blog post about security improvements, chief technology officer Mike Schroepfer said 87 million users, mostly in the United States, had their data scraped without their permission. Previous estimates put the number closer to 50 million. Facebook plans to launch a tool Monday to make it easy for users to see whether Cambridge Analytica captured their information. Facebook initially said only 270,000 people downloaded the app used to access the data. The company established the latest exposure estimate after analyzing the maximum number of friends each app user had. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify next week before Congress, likely facing tough questions from lawmakers about the company’s business model, which relies on targeted advertising driven by detailed information on users.