Cambridge Analytica ‘ceasing operations’

Cambridge Analytica (CA), the U.K. marketing analytics firm at the heart of the Facebook data scandal, announced on Wednesday it was “immediately ceasing all operations” and filing for insolvency in Britain and the United States.

“It has been determined that it is no longer viable to continue operating the business,” the company, accused of misusing tens of millions of Facebook users’ data, said in a statement.

CA, hired by Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, said it had been “vilified” in recent months over “numerous unfounded accusations”, which had decimated its business.

It has vehemently denied exploiting Facebook users’ data for the election campaign of Mr. Trump following revelations it gathered up profile information via a personality prediction app. Facebook has admitted that up to 87 million users may have had their data hijacked by the firm.

CA claims it deleted data about Facebook users obtained in breach of the social network's terms of service. The company said it hired British barrister Julian Malins to conduct an independent investigation into the allegations, whose report it posted on its website on Wednesday.

“[The] report...concluded that the allegations were not ‘borne out by the facts’,” CA said.

“TDespite Cambridge Analytica's unwavering confidence that its employees have acted ethically and lawfully... he siege of media coverage has driven away virtually all of the company's customers and suppliers,” the firm added.

Its board has appointed lawyers in Britain to oversee the insolvency process, and would be following suit in America, CA added.

“While this decision was extremely painful for Cambridge Analytica's leaders, they recognize that it is all the more difficult for the Company's dedicated employees who learned today that they likely would be losing their jobs as a result of the damage caused to the business by the unfairly negative media coverage,” it said in the statement.

Noting its financial condition was precarious, it added: “Cambridge Analytica intends to fully meet its obligations to its employees, including with respect to notice periods, severance terms, and redundancy entitlements.”

The data firm at the centre of Facebook’s privacy debacle is closing its doors, according to a published report.

Cambridge Analytica (CA) has been linked to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. The British firm suspended CEO Alexander Tayler in April amid investigations.

The Wall Street Journal says Wednesday’s shutdown comes as the firm is losing clients and facing legal fees from the Facebook case. CA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The firm sought information on Facebook to build psychological profiles on a large portion of the U.S. electorate.

It was able to amass the database quickly with the help of an app that appeared to be a personality test.

The app collected data on tens of millions of people and their Facebook friends, even those who did not download the app themselves.

Denies wrongdoing

Facebook has since tightened its privacy restrictions. CA has denied wrongdoing, and the Donald Trump campaign has said it didn’t use its data.

The firm has said it is committed to helping the U.K. investigation into Facebook and how it uses data. But U.K. Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham said in March the firm failed to meet a deadline to produce the information requested.

Denham said the prime allegation against Cambridge Analytica is that it acquired personal data in an unauthorized way, adding that the data provisions act requires services like Facebook to have strong safeguards against misuse of data.