Crimson Hexagon Locked Out of Facebook Data

In the US, Facebook has temporarily blocked social media monitoring and analysis specialist Crimson Hexagon's access to Facebook and Instagram data, while it investigates the firm's data collection practices.

Crimson Hexagon's platform is powered by patented technology and an in-house data library said to contain more than one trillion consumer conversations gathered from social media, forums, blogs, reviews and other sources. In addition to clients such as Paramount Pictures, Samsung, Twitter, Adidas and GM, the Wall Street Journal claims the company has also held contracts with both US government agencies and a Russian non-profit group with connections to the Kremlin.

The news follows last month's UK Information Commissioner's Office announcement that Facebook will be fined £500k for its part in the recent Cambridge Analytica data breach, in which data belonging to an estimated 87 million Facebook users was improperly accessed. The social media giant is now examining whether Crimson Hexagon has violated any of its policies on how to collect, share and store Facebook/Instagram user data. Crimson Hexagon CTO Chris Bingham (pictured) said his firm is fully co-operating with the investigation, adding: 'Crimson Hexagon only allows government customers to use the platform for specific approved use cases, and under no circumstances is surveillance a permitted use case. No one using Crimson Hexagon would be able to learn anything about an individual that isn't already contained in publicly-available data'.

In April, Facebook announced it has engaged a team of academics, led by Crimson Hexagon's co-founder and Harvard professor Garry King, to develop a model to better understand the implications of social media and digital technologies - starting with Facebook's impact on elections.

Web site: www.crimsonhexagon.com .