Facebook was not selling data then either. Users gave their explicit consent to Cambridge Analytica to use the data in the surveys. The mistake Facebook made was giving Cambridge Analytica access to those users' friends data, which qualifies it as a data breach. Again, Facebook never sold data to third parties.
That's not accurate. Facebook sold the data to Cambridge Analytica. You're right that users gave consent for their data to be used but the data bundle sold to Cambridge Analytica included data that was not collected in the surveys. The entire issue wasn't just that FB gave CA access to those users' friends data. It's that they sold it to CA insomuch that CA was paying FB for that additional data.
>"We have to seriously challenge the claim by Facebook that they are not selling user data," commented Damian Collins MP, chair of the UK Parliament's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee.
>"They may not be letting people take it away by the bucket load, but they do reward companies with access to data that others are denied, if they place a high value on the business they do together. This is just another form of selling."
Did Cambridge Analytica pay for access though? IIRC they just created an app that utilized the "Login with Facebook" feature which then gives the developer some metadata. I've looked around but couldn't find any sources on whether or not Cambridge Analytica actually paid for this access.
