A writer on the satirical news website, The Spoof, has claimed that data firm Cambridge Analytica has invaded his internet space, hacked into both his published AND unpublished spoof submissions, and altered them.
Moys Kenwood, originally from Hull in East Yorkshire, made the insane claim this morning when I got up and came to this computer, thinking it a valid-enough way of scoring a few spoof points, and, hopefully, a way of overtaking that pesky Gail Farrelly * who always manages to stay just ahead of me, even though she hardly ever writes anything.
On Saturday, Christopher Wylie, a former worker at the data firm, lifted the lid on the company’s 'steamy' relationship with Facebook. He revealed how an academic, Aleksandr Kogan, had harvested data from users via a personality quiz on the social network, and, through his company Global Science Research (GSR), had shared it with Cambridge Analytica. Since then, there have been more revelations about both firms and about the way consumers’ data is used.
An investigation by Britain's Channel 4 showed how head of CA, Alexander Nix, boasted about his firm's ability to "create sex scandals and other fake news, to swing elections".
The current allegation, however, is a new low.
Said Kenwood:
"It's clear that CA has been into my account. They know I am a major player in social commentary, and that I am widely read on the Hull City Fans Forum, and the BBC Look North website. They've hacked my spoofs, and changed the spellings of words. Worse, they've omitted commas."
Director of Operations at The Spoof, Mark Lowton, denied this, however, and said:
"He's a bit of a dreamer. Paranoid, even. He should take a chill-pill."
* RIP
