The Cambridge University app developer Alex Kogan said Monday he had no meaningful affiliation with Russia or connection to Russia’s election interference when he was at the company that has been accused of fleecing Facebook for data on up to 87 million users.
“I think that’s honestly a preposterous claim that has no backing,” Kogan said when asked if he had any connection to Russian interference. “Absolutely not.”
Eye of the storm: The man at the center of Facebook’s data scandal is set to appear before Congress this week. @GStephanopoulos one-on-one with Dr. Alex Kogan this morning: pic.twitter.com/RLyn4VBxtj
— Good Morning America (@GMA) April 23, 2018
“I had a loose affiliation with the university there and went and gave a few talks there, but nothing more,” Kogan said of his relationship to Russia. “Most Russians, just like most Americans, are normal, decent folk, have nothing to do with spy craft.”
Kogan said whistleblower Christopher Wiley’s claims that he had some connection to Russia during his time with Cambridge Analytica was “xenophobic nonsense.”
Kogan was the creator of the application “This is Your Digital Life,” which collected information from users on Facebook making use of the log-in feature and later shared that user data with research consulting firm Cambridge Analytica.
The app creator has been at the center of the Facebook controversy, which stems from the millions of users who have had their personal data compromised by Cambridge Analytica. Kogan is set to appear before Congress later this week.
