It has been revealed that Australia's peak business lobby met with representatives of the controversial research firm Cambridge Analytica last year.
Business Council chief Jennifer Westacott and president Grant King were involved in the meeting in Washington DC in September 2017.
Ms Westacott told a Senate hearing in Melbourne on Thursday the meeting had been held "more out of curiosity" than any other reason.
But she said it had nothing to do with the council's campaign to support the Turnbull government's corporate tax cuts, which is the subject of the Senate inquiry.
She said, under questioning from Labor senator Kristina Keneally, the BCA did not have any formal relationship with Cambridge Analytica or use them in the South Australian state election campaign.
The company made headlines when it was revealed it misused personal information from as many as 87 million Facebook accounts, including Australian users.
Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before US congressional committees and at one point the company lost some $50 billion in value for its shareholders.
Cambridge Analytica has commissioned an independent investigation.
