The Great Hack (2019)
The Great Hack is a 2019 fictitious movie that revolves around a breach of human data in the US electioneering period of 2016 and the UK’s Brexit. The company involved in the alleged hack in the movie is known as Cambridge Analytica (Amer & Noujaim, 2019). The firm was working for US Senator Ted Cruz. The major aspect that Cambridge Analytica was tasked with was to control 5,000 data points from Facebook users it had obtained without their consent. The data derived was used to persuade voters by creating fear and apathy in favor of the sponsor, Ted Cruz.
The people behind the hack were Christopher Wylie and Brittany Kaiser, a programmer, and star of the company, respectively. Kaiser later provided important information about what was happening during the hack, thus, whistleblowing on the company’s security violations (Amer & Noujaim, 2019). The company’s CEO Alexander Nix had sparked reactions after disclosing to have the data points, probing Professor David Carroll to undertake a legal process that would recover his data. The harvest of the data was reported in 2015 by Harry Davies, working for The Guardian.
Further investigations were made by other media firms about the hack, which made Zuckerberg testify before several boards in the US Congress. There followed several punitive measures that subjected Facebook to paying 500,000 euros due to transparency issues (Amer & Noujaim, 2019). Later, Cambridge Analytica was guilty of manipulating the voters through the false depiction of data that would influence only one side of the election. Thus, the above elements explain The Great Hack movie.
Whether I Can Recommend the Movie
I would recommend the film to other people, such as my friends who frequently use social media, and also to the fellows who understand data breaches. The reason why I would recommend the movie is that it enlightens the audience about how conspiracy occurs to violate security laws by the use of technology. With the world being globalized, people need to be aware of schemes that politicians use to lure voters into voting for them. I would recommend the movie because it has the details on how such hacking is done. For instance, the online polls that ask about contemporary issues may be diverted to establish political intimidation by using persuasive strategies that may be significant to people (Amer & Noujaim, 2019). I would recommend people around me to watch and research more on dangerous browsing.
What I Liked and Disliked
In the movie, I liked the way media was given the freedom to investigate socio-political matters. There are more than four media firms, such as The Guardian, that are seen disclosing the scandal, which led to the imposition of fines by the perpetrators. In the film, I did not like the idea of unprotected whistleblowing. In this case, Christopher Wylie and Kaiser have not been spared despite disclosing violations that would significantly harm many users whose data was manipulated by Cambridge Analytica.
Reference
Amer, K., & Noujaim, J. (2019). The Great Hack [Film]. United States; The Othrs.