MANILA - Sen. Imee Marcos on Wednesday denied that their family sought the help of Cambridge Analytica, a now-defunct British political consulting firm tagged in the illegal mining of personal data online.

The Marcoses' alleged ties with Cambridge Analytica came to light in 2020 when a former business development director alleged that the family of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos wanted help in revising history to give his scions a better chance in winning elections.

"No, hindi totoo yun," Sen. Marcos told TeleRadyo's "On the Spot."

"Hindi ko nga kilala at saka nakakatakot 'yun," she said.

(I do not know them and that is scary.)

In 2020, Marcos family spokesperson Vic Rodriguez denied the claim, calling the Marcoses' supposed transaction as "patently fake, false, and misleading."

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"Former Senator Marcos never reached out to them and, like most of us, was only made aware of Cambridge Analytica's existence through reports of its controversial activities in the media," Rodriguez had said in a statement .

The data scandal in Cambridge Analytica came to light in March 2018 when its former employee Christopher Wylie revealed the company harvested private information of some 87 million users on Facebook.

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The company, which was created in 2013 with a $15 million support from billionaire Republican donor Robert Mercer, ceased operations few months later following revelations of data misuse.

Before the firm's closure, Cambridge Analytica CEO Alexander Nix was photographed in a meeting with several allies of President Rodrigo Duterte.

The photo, according to the South China Morning Post report, was taken at a National Press Club event in Manila in May 2015, one year before Duterte's election victory.

• Duterte supporters deny Cambridge Analytica links after photo surfaces

Duterte has also denied allegations that his camp sought the British firm's help for the 2016 presidential elections.

• Duterte denies link to Cambridge Analytica

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