Cambridge Analytica, the company behind Facebook’s (NASDAQ: FB) massive data leak scandal, attempted to develop its own cryptocurrency this past year and intended to raise funds through an ICO, the New York Times reported.
The goal of Cambridge Analytica’s own coin offering was to raise money that would pay for the creation of a system to help people store and sell their online personal data to advertisers, Brittany Kaiser, a former Cambridge Analytica employee, told the New York Times.
“Who knows more about the usage of personal data than Cambridge Analytica?” Ms. Kaiser said. “So why not build a platform that reconstructs the way that works?”
According to a Reuters report, the British data analytics consultancy had approached a firm that advises companies on how to structure an initial coin offering, and was looking to raise as much as $30 million.
“Prior to the Facebook controversy, we were developing a suite of technologies to help individuals reclaim their personal data from corporate entities and to have full transparency and control over how their personal data are used,” a Cambridge Analytica spokesman said in an email to Reuters.
“We were exploring multiple options for people to manage and monetise their personal data, including blockchain technology.”
It is not known if Cambridge Analytica is still pursuing such plans.
By Siranush Ghazanchyan