Looking for something to stress you out to the max?
Look no further than Netflix’s recently added documentary, The Great Hack.
The film provides a detailed look at the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the hack that saw millions of Facebook users’ data harvested by a third party company for political advertising purposes.
Telling the story through the eyes of those who worked closely with the company, the documentary provides a thought-provoking, alarming, and sometimes unsettling picture of the true power that tech giants have across the globe.
Dubbed by many as “the biggest scandal of our time,” Cambridge Analytica harvested the data of millions of Facebook users without their consent with the intention of changing their voting patterns.
The Great Hack shares the stories of whistleblowers Brittany Kaiser and Chris Wylie, who both spoke out about the company’s unethical activities after leaving their posts.
The documentary has got a solid 83 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, however a number of the reviews are slightly mixed with some people arguing that it presents a misinformed and skewed picture of events.
“The show is worth watching to make you re-evaluate the use of data and the willingness of the powerful to corrupt,” says the London Evening Standard.
“This sobering documentary should make anybody who clears two hours to watch it want to learn more, to be more skeptical about what finds its way into one’s inbox,” says CNN.
“At its best, The Great Hack will alarm you, infuriate you, and – hopefully – activate you,” says the San Francisco Chronicle.
On the other hand, the Sunday Times says the film “doesn’t make it past the firewall,” while the Daily Mail called it “an extremely watchable film, albeit deeply flawed.”
Watch it for yourself sure, and make of it what you will. Regardless, you’re in for some stressful, thought-provoking, viewing.
The Great Hack is now available to stream on Netflix.
