Wait, wait, don't tell me ... the facts

I normally love the NPR show "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me." The news-comedy show is almost always clever and funny, and I even learn a few things.

So I was disturbed this week when I heard the show make clear factual errors regarding what some call a Facebook privacy "scandal."

First, "Wait, Wait" host Peter Sagal said that Facebook "sold all our data without telling us." This is not true. First, Facebook did not sell users' data, at least not in the case in question. What it did was allow a Cambridge University researcher named Alexandr Kogan to offer Facebook users an personality survey called "This is Your Digital Life." When people downloaded the app, it allowed Kogan access to the information they had put on Facebook, and the information that some of their friends had posted.  So not only did Facebook not sell data, this episode did not involve "all our data."

Second, in conversation with a guest, Sagal said that a company known as Cambridge Analytica bought this data from Facebook. That is not true, either.  Cambridge Analytica got the user data from Kogan.

Third, Sagal said Cambridge Analytica "stole the personal data" of Facebook users. This is completely false. As I said above, Cambridge Analytical got the data from Kogan.