Cambridge Analytica

The B.C. Green Party says it does not believe its members' personal information was stolen, after the party worked with a Victoria-based tech company that's mired in an international privacy scandal.

A small Victoria, B.C.-based tech firm has found itself mired in a privacy scandal unfolding in Europe as it faces accusations that it played a role in influencing Britain's vote to leave the European Union.

The controversy over Facebook data gathering has a Canadian backstory far older than the adventures of the young whistleblower from British Columbia who worked for the contentious firm Cambridge Analytica.

Nearly three-quarters of Canadian Facebook users say they will make at least some change to how they use the social media platform in the wake of a data mining scandal.

For years, Megan Boler's research focused on the power of social media as a democratizing force, giving voice to the voiceless and empowering everyday people to come together and participate more meaningfully in how they are governed.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is admitting his platform failed to protect the data of its users and is planning to audit all apps that "had access to large amounts of information" before it introduced restrictions in 2014.

The Canadian data scientist who admitted to helping political parties score electoral wins by exploiting the private information of millions of Facebook users also oversaw a short-lived pilot project for the federal Liberals shortly after the 2015 election.

Acting minister for democratic institutions Scott Brison plans to meet with Canada's cyber spy agency and domestic spy service to assess threats to the electoral system and the protection of personal information.

"Let's say he had boundary issues on data even back then," said the insider, who noted that Christopher Wylie's descriptions of his methods in media reports sounded familiar. "He effectively pitched an earlier version of exactly this to us back in 2009 and we said, 'No.'"

At age 17, Christopher Wylie worked in the office of Canada's opposition leader, who at that time was then-Liberal leader Stéphane Dion, said one of the reports.

Much attention was paid to a recent poll that suggested Republicans no longer trust the FBI — as it investigates President Donald Trump's Russia ties, the federal police force is now viewed favourably by just 38 per cent of voters of the traditional law-and-order party.