B.C. tech firm denies lying to committee probing Facebook data scandal
OTTAWA — A senior executive from B.C.-based AggregateIQ spent three hours Tuesday denying pointed accusations that his company had misled MPs looking into Canadian links to an international controversy over the sharing of Facebook data.
On two separate occasions, AggregateIQ has been accused of lying to a federal committee about its connection to British political consultancy Cambridge Analytica, which has been accused of improperly using private information on millions of Facebook users to influence voters in the U.K.’s 2016 Brexit referendum.
The company’s chief operating officer, Jeff Silvester, insisted the company did nothing wrong when it helped groups pushing for the U.K. to leave the European Union with online advertising campaigns — and he seemed taken aback by accusations that his company was involved in illegal activity.
Speaking after his committee appearance, Silvester called the accusations from whistleblower Christopher Wylie “astonishing.”