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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
Former staff from scandal-hit Cambridge Analytica (CA) have set up another data analysis company.
Auspex International will be "ethically based" and offer "boutique geopolitical consultancy" services, according to its website.
CA was shut down by its parent company, SCL Elections, which itself faces criminal charges over failure to supply data when requested.
Auspex will work in the Middle East and Africa initially.
The company was set up by Ahmed Al-Khatib, a former director of Emerdata, which was also created in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal to continue the work it was doing.
In a press release announcing the new company, he says CA's collapse was a "bitter disappointment" to him.
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Tuesday July 17 2018, @12:37PM (6 children)
Firstly, "ethical" datamining yields no revenues by definition. Data is worth something if you can extract information that the owner of the data wasn't prepared to give you willingly in the first place.
Secondly, what in the name of [insert deity] is "boutique geopolitical consultancy"?
(Score: 4, Informative) by Booga1 on Tuesday July 17 2018, @12:51PM
Read, "specializing in regime change || reinforcement." Contract wording depends on who's paying.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 17 2018, @12:54PM (1 child)
Rosco, we provide exclusive, strategic advice, insights and contacts, giving businesses and institutions the knowledge, skills and networks they need to succeed around the globe. We also provide expert advice on navigating complex geopolitical situations, responding to trends and anticipating future developments globally and in specific regions and countries.
With our customized intelligence briefings, reports and presentations set within their geopolitical context, you can address specific corporate and political situations. Given your obvious deficiences, we can also provide geopolitical coaching, training and development sessions.
Please vist us at the AWS Summit today, booth 52, where we are a Tungsten Level Sponsor.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 17 2018, @03:58PM
Oh, I forgot to mention, Rosco.
We'll go down on a goat in a heartbeat, if the price is right. We are your whores, if you have the money.
And, please, please, please, visit us at the AWS summit!!
(Score: 4, Interesting) by MostCynical on Tuesday July 17 2018, @12:55PM
Nothing wrong with a set of moral principles based on exploitation, money, power, and data mining.
All completely ethical, for someone evil.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday July 17 2018, @02:30PM
I don't think it's entirely true that ethical datamining has no value, but I do agree that ethical datamining probably has far less value than all other varieties. For example, it is useful for me as a marketer to know how many people are in the market to buy cars, if I am looking to market cars. But an anonymized set of data with gross numbers is worth far less than unmasked consumers I can market to directly.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday July 17 2018, @03:55PM
You may have missed the number of women involved in this scheme. I would say that boutique is a buzzword, but women have been calling their favorite crapholes "boutiques" for many, many years. If you were a door-to-door salesman, selling manure, and somehow managed to get the word "boutique" into the name of your business and/or product, you could get rich quick.
To me, "boutique" is synonymous with "overpriced bullshit".