Netflix's: The Great Hack

The Great Hack is a Netflix original documentary about Cambridge Analytica and their role in the Brexit referendum and the 2016 election.  The documentary follows three stories: 1) the impact and value of our personal data, 2) Brittany Kaiser-the Cambridge whistleblower, and 3) a professor's quest in getting his personal data back. The first storyline begins with one of the Obama elections who first used Cambridge Analytica and their data.  This story continues with the 2016 election. Ted Cruz originally hired Cambridge Analytica, but then (as we all know) lost to Trump and then Trump hired the company for his campaign.  I was not clear on the actual timing.  Was Cambridge working for both Republican candidates at the same time?  Isn't that conflict of interest?  Can an ad agency create ads for two competing companies?  I am not clear on the rules and neither was anyone else.  By the way, Steve Bannon was the VP of Cambridge Analytica AND Trump's campaign manager.  Sounds like Cruz got screwed.

The second part of the story is about the company Cambridge Analytica. One employee (with pink hair) had an ax to grind and claimed that they helped Nigel Farrage and his Brexit win the referendum despite there still being no Brexit.  Brittany Kaiser jumped on the bandwagon as well and claimed to have helped Trump win the 2016 election through slick campaign ads that were meant to influence swing voters in certain districts within swing states.  One of the ads was an ad about Crooked Hillary.  
Brittany has been interviewed by the media and testified before Congress during the Mueller investigations.  Her reasoning is much more cloudy than the other employee.  She claims that she felt guilty about her role in helping Trump win and believes that Cambridge Analytica is out of control.  They apparently used data in other countries such as Trinidad to get certain prime ministers elected.  

Facebook is a big part of Cambridge's success.  Cambridge creates cutesy quizzes for Facebook users that are used to store the user's answers and create a personality profile.  Personalities impact voting behaviors. Cambridge has worked for the British government under a different name, performing online ads and newsfeeds that thwart citizens from joining Al Qaeda.  Now they've expanded into swinging elections.
As far as the professor storyline went, he got a lawyer and Cambridge plead guilty.  Nothing else happened.  He never got his data and never got any damages for the theft.
My Review: This was a very entertaining and informative documentary, however, many questions were not answered.  Are social medias powerful enough to influence elections?  Can someone (like billionaire George Soros) hire them and put whoever they want in power?  Or is something much sadder going on?  Are people really stupid enough to vote for candidate based on a Facebook ad?  I also question Kaiser's "guilt" in helping with these elections.  She supposedly met with Julian Assaunge of Wikileaks.  Why?  After watching this documentary, I definitely will keep my posts on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram ultra-boring.  However, I am not convinced that this was "cheating" which was what the director intended to prove.  4/5 Stars