NC democrats file complaint over Facebook data

North Carolina’s Democratic Party has filed a formal complaint about work performed by Cambridge Analytica for the campaign of Republican U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis.

Cambridge Analytica has been accused of vacuuming data from Facebook users to try to influence the 2016 presidential race. It announced May 2 that it’s closing down because of what it considers vilification in the media.

North Carolina Democrats filed a Federal Election Commission complaint against Tillis’ campaign and the state Republican Party. Democrats allege they violated the law because Cambridge Analytica employees were foreign nationals who helped make key campaign decisions.

Cambridge’s website describes using the company’s “unique data-rich voter file” to build high-tech profiles for all North Carolina voters that were used to increase turnout and help Tillis unseat Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan.