Cambridge Analytica did not improperly obtain data from up to 87 million Facebook users, the data research firm said Wednesday.
In a statement, the firm said it licensed data for “no more than 30 million people from GSR. We did not receive more data than this.”
“GSR” refers to Global Science Research, a firm founded by Aleksandr Kogan. Kogan was a researcher at Cambridge University who collected information from Facebook for Cambridge Analytica.
“We did not use any GSR data in the work we did in the 2016 US presidential election,” Cambridge Analytica said, adding it “took legal action” against GSR when it found out it breached the contract and obtained more users’ information than they had agreed to obtain.
Facebook admitted earlier on Wednesday that personal data from as many as 87 million users were improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica, after originally estimating that 50 million people were affected.
Facebook released the new number in the bottom of a lengthy blog post describing how it would limit access to Facebook users’ information.
Cambridge Analytica said it was putting out a statement in order to respond to Facebook’s announcement and “clarify what data we licensed.”
The revelation came as Facebook announced CEO Mark Zuckerberg had agreed to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on April 11 over user privacy.
Zuckerberg told reporters in a Wednesday conference call that the original estimate of 50 million came from a third party, accepted responsibility for the breach, and said he still believes he is the best person to run the social media giant.
On Tuesday, Facebook announced it found and removed more than 200 accounts controlled by Russia’s Internet Research Agency, a “troll farm” bankrolled by an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Facebook has been under intense scrutiny for how it was used by outside governments like Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.
