It's impossible to know exactly what data Cambridge Analytica scraped from Facebook — but here's the kind of information apps could access in 2014 (FB)

REUTERS/Shu Zhang

• We don't know exactly which information Cambridge Analytica obtained from as many as 50 million Facebook users.
• But Facebook's old API, the software tool that gives third party apps access to Facebook user data, gives insight into what would have been possible before 2014, which is when Facebook changed its policies to prevent that sort of data scraping.
• Back then, when users clicked "Allow" before using a third-party app, they were often giving those developers access to a trove of their friends' personal information. 
• That data included information like interests, likes, location, political affiliation, relationships, photos, and more. 

We'll likely never know exactly what information Cambridge Analytica obtained from Facebook users — but by taking a look at Facebook's old way of doing business, we can hazard a guess.

Last weekend, a whistleblower revealed that British data company Cambridge Analytica illicitly obtained information from as many as 50 million Facebook profiles by abusing Facebook's data-sharing features. See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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See Also:

• 'I'm really sorry that this happened': Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologizes for Cambridge Analytica data scandal
• Facebook just gave us a new kind of scandal — and it's going to get weirder from here
• If Zuck wants us to take Facebook's response to the Cambridge Analytica scandal seriously, he should try saying 'sorry'

SEE ALSO: Zuckerberg finally speaks on Cambridge Analytica scandal: He's willing to testify to Congress and thinks tech should be regulated