Data company files for bankruptcy after Facebook scandal drives away customers
Cambridge Analytica, the UK-based political consultancy and data-mining company at the core of claims about the shared personal information of millions of Facebook users, is shutting down.
The company, which had been accused of improperly obtaining information for political clients and which reportedly offered advice on elections in Italy, Kenya and Nigeria, said in a statement on its website that the closure does not mean it did anything wrong.
"Over the past several months, Cambridge Analytica has been the subject of numerous unfounded accusations and ... has been vilified for activities that are not only legal, but also widely accepted as a standard component of online advertising in both the political and commercial arenas," the statement read.
"Despite Cambridge Analytica's unwavering confidence that its employees have acted ethically and lawfully, ... the siege of media coverage has driven away virtually all of the company's customers and suppliers."
The statement said parent company SCL Elections had also started bankruptcy proceedings.
Facebook, which says data belonging to around 87 million of its users was harvested by a quiz app and passed to Cambridge Analytica, says its internal probe will continue. "This doesn't change our commitment and determination to understand exactly what happened and make sure it doesn't happen again," the BBC reported a Facebook spokesman as saying. "We are continuing with our investigation in cooperation with the relevant authorities."
Cambridge Analytica has been accused of using the personal data to sway the outcome of the 2016 United States presidential election and the United Kingdom's Brexit referendum.
The scandal broke in March, when British TV station Channel 4 aired undercover footage of Cambridge Analytica's CEO, Alexander Nix, describing how underhand tactics, such as smear campaigns and honey traps, might swing elections. Nix was subsequently suspended.
Following news of the company's demise, the UK's Financial Times newspaper quoted an anonymous ex-employee of the company as saying it would emerge "in some other incarnation or guise".
And the Guardian newspaper reported on Wednesday that the team behind Cambridge Analytica had set up a new company, called Emerdata.
The Wall Street Journal said Cambridge Analytica and SCL Elections combined had close to 100 employees.
earle@mail.chinadailyuk.com
(China Daily 05/04/2018 page12)
