Privacy watchdogs in Victoria and Ottawa are combining their investigations into a B.C. ad-targeting firm accused of misusing Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) data during the 2016 Brexit campaign in the U.K.
The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia launched its own investigation into AggregateIQ late last year.
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada began investigating Facebook in March in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which the two companies harvested personal data to influence U.S. election results.
“The investigations will examine whether the organizations are in compliance with Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIEDA) and B.C.’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA),” the Ottawa watchdog said in an April 5 statement.
“As these are active investigations, no additional details are available at this time.”
The federal commissioner’s office added that both Facebook and Victoria-based AggregateIQ are subject to PIEDA and PIPA.
Facebook acknowledged earlier this week that the personal data of as many as 620,000 Canadians may have been misused by Cambridge Analytica.
Canadian whistleblower Christopher Wylie, who previously worked for Cambridge Analytica, told a parliamentary committee in the U.K. in late March that AggregateIQ was closely linked to Cambridge Analytica.
AggregateIQ denies on its website that it’s connected to Cambridge Analytica:
AggregateIQ is a digital advertising, web and software development company based in Canada. It is and has always been 100% Canadian owned and operated. AggregateIQ has never been and is not a part of Cambridge Analytica or SCL. Aggregate IQ has never entered into a contract with Cambridge Analytica. Chris Wylie has never been employed by AggregateIQ.
AggregateIQ did not immediately respond to an interview request from Business in Vancouver.
