Facebook gave a Russian firm with Kremlin ties an extension on data collection

Hmmm, the Facebook data collection scandal just got more interesting.

It turns out that one of the 61 companies that got an extension to collect certain kinds of data was a Russian tech firm with ties to the Kremlin. 

Before 2015, apps like This Is Your Digital Life — the source of Cambridge Analytica's data on 87 million people — could collect information on the friends of their users. 

Basically, if you used an app, the developers could see what your friends "liked" even if they weren't users. Facebook banned the practice in May 2015, but as it revealed to Congress several weeks ago in 700 pages of written responses, it gave some apps an extension.  Read more...