Scandal-hit Cambridge Analytica to close down in wake of Facebook probe

SCANDAL-HIT POLITICAL analysis firm Cambridge Analytica is declaring bankruptcy and shutting down.

The company, which worked on the Brexit campaign, sustained severe criticism after harvesting the data from millions of Facebook profiles.

The move comes in the wake of rising legal costs in the Facebook investigation, and the loss of clients following revelations about the firm in March.

In a statement, the company said it had been “vilified” for legal activities that are a “standard component” of advertising in the political world. Up to 87m people had data harvested by an app which was then acquired by Cambridge Analytica (CA), according to Facebook.

The app, a personality survey called “yourdigitallife”, collected personal data from users and their Facebook friends, in line with the behaviour of many similar apps at the time.

It allowed CA to tailor specific political adverts to small groups of people, already knowing what their likes and interests were, it is alleged. CA played a key role in mapping out the behaviour of voters in the run-up to the 2016 US election and was also used during the EU referendum campaign earlier that year.

In a statement, CA said: “Over the past several months, Cambridge Analytica has been the subject of numerous unfounded accusations and, despite the company’s efforts to correct the record, 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.

“Despite Cambridge Analytica’s unwavering confidence employees have acted ethically and lawfully,, the siege of media coverage has driven away virtually all of the company’s customers and suppliers.

As a result, it is no longer viable to continue operating the business, which left no realistic alternative to placing the company into administration.”