Firm in Facebook storm is raided by UK data watchdog
A TEAM of investigators last night raided the headquarters of the company at the centre of the Facebook data scandal.
Enforcement officers from the Information Commission entered the offices of Cambridge Analytica in central London, less than an hour after a High Court judge gave them the goahead. The 18 staff were led by a woman bearing a note, which appeared to be a search warrant.
Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham wants access to records and data amid claims that Facebook data may have been illegally acquired and used for political campaigns.
The watchdog’s investigation includes the acquisition and use of Facebook data by Cambridge Analytica, its parent company SCL and academic Dr Aleksandr Kogan, who developed the app used to gather data.
It stems from claims over the harvesting of personal data – and whether it was used during Donald Trump’s US presidential campaign or the Brexit referendum.
Cambridge Analytica’s chief executive Alexander Nix has been suspended while Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been called on to give evidence to MPs.
At the High Court yesterday, Judge Anthony Leonard QC said he would give the reasons for granting a warrant on Tuesday. Both Cambridge Analytica and Facebook deny any wrongdoing.
The move comes as billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk ordered the deletion of his companies’ official Facebook pages.
The verified pages of rocket company SpaceX and electric carmaker Tesla disappeared yesterday, just minutes after Mr Musk promised on Twitter to take down the pages.
Mr Musk’s business ventures had millions of followers on Facebook, but the pages are no longer accessible. Earlier, challenged online whether he would take the pages down, the tycoon responded: ‘Will do.’
He added that the Tesla Facebook page ‘looks lame’. ‘I don’t use Facebook and never have, so don’t think I’m some kind of martyr or my companies are taking a huge blow,’ Mr Musk said. ‘Also, we don’t advertise or pay for endorsements, so we don’t care.’
Mr Musk has had run-ins with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in the past.
Last year, a war of words broke out between the two billionaires over whether robots could become smart enough to kill their human creators.
When Mr Zuckerberg was asked about Mr Musk’s warnings about the dangers of robots, the Facebook chief said it was ‘irresponsible’. In response, Mr Musk tweeted: ‘His understanding of the subject is limited.’