London: Cambridge Analytica, the UK-based political consulting firm at the heart of the massive data breach of Facebook users worldwide, announced it is shutting down.
The company denies any wrongdoing, but says that the negative media coverage has left it with no clients and mounting legal fees which has forced it to resort to closure.
“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 company said in a statement.
“As a result, it has been determined that it is no longer viable to continue operating the business, which left Cambridge Analytica with no realistic alternative to placing the company into administration,” it added.
The firm was accused of improperly obtaining personal information on behalf of political clients. According to Facebook, data on up to 87 million of its users was harvested by an app and then passed on to the political consultancy.
The social network said its own probe into the matter would continue. “This doesn’t change our commitment and determination to understand exactly what happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” a Cambridge Analytica spokesperson said.
The company said its parent company, SCL Elections, would also commence bankruptcy proceedings. This could impact its Indian operations as well. The chair of a UK Parliament committee investigating the firm’s activities also raised concerns about CA and SCL Elections’ move to shut down.
India, UK to carry on probe despite closure
New Delhi: The Indian government will continue with its enquiry into the Cambridge Analytica data leak issue, irrespective of the British firm announcing closure of business, senior IT Ministry officials said Thursday. The Indian government too has shot-off notices to both Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, confronting them with questions on data breach issue. The last date for the two companies to respond is May 10. Indian officials familiar with the questioning and notices sent in the data leak matter said the ongoing probe will continue as the liability of the company existed prior to the closure announcement. British officials too said that their investigation into the data breach scandal involving Cambridge Analytica will not be impacted with the shutdown of the political consulting firm.
Agencies
