Cambridge Analytica Shutting Down After Facebook Data Scandal

[MacRumors]

United Kingdom-based data firm Cambridge Analytica is shutting down operations following the ongoing Facebook data scandal, in which the firm improperly amassed sensitive Facebook user data to target messages to voters during the previous U.S. presidential election. Cambridge Analytica affiliates SCL Group and SCL Elections will also shut down in the U.S. and U.K.

In a statement on the closure, the company said that "parallel bankruptcy proceedings" will begin for Cambridge Analytica and "certain of the company's U.S. affiliates." The decision to end its business came after it began losing clients and facing "mounting legal fees" from the Facebook investigation, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.

In its statement, Cambridge Analytica remained adamant that many of the accusations against the data firm have been "unfounded."

"Over the past several months, Cambridge Analytica has been the subject of numerous unfounded accusations," the statement said. "The siege of media coverage has driven away virtually all of the company's customers and suppliers. As a result, it has been determined that it is no longer viable to continue operating the business."

Cambridge Analytica has denied wrongdoing in the Facebook incident. The company said in the Wednesday statement that despite the efforts to correct the record, it "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 the closures, leaders at Cambridge Analytica and SCL Group are said to be "involved in a variety of other entities," which could lead to the companies rebranding their data firm operations under a different name. The New York Times suggests this could be a new Britain-based firm called Emerdata, with one SCL Group executive, Nigel Oakes, publicly describing Emerdata as a way of rolling up the two companies under one new banner.

In the weeks following the news of the data controversy, Facebook shared numerous blog posts about policy changes and updates that launched on the social network to enhance its users' privacy. When asked what he would do if he was Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook in March said: "I wouldn't be in this situation" and called for stronger data privacy regulations.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Cambridge Analytica Shutting Down After Facebook Data Scandal

 

[simonmet]

Play with fire ... get burnt!

 

[Xenc]

Analyse fire... get burnt!

 

[arkitect]

"involved in a variety of other entities,"

Their work is done.
The damage is caused and they move on… ****** doesn't stick to these kind of people.

They'll be back, only more dangerous this time as they will have learnt some new tricks.

 

[0815]

Guess they regret now big time bragging about how they won the election for Trump ....

 

[arkitect]

Guess they regret now big time bragging about how they won the election for Trump ....

I am sure the only thing they regret is being caught.

Scum.

 

[appleguy123]

It didn't actually shut down. All the people behind it just created a new company while adding even more bad actors, including Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater and brother of Betsy DeVos. http://www.businessinsider.com/camb...ives-and-mercer-family-launch-emerdata-2018-3

I know it says this in the article but the top comments don't suggest that people are actually reading it to the end.

 

[daflake]

Funny, Oxford Analytica just opened!

 

[PBG4 Dude]

Funny, Oxford Analytica just opened!

No, Emerdata, actually.

 

[daflake]

No, Emerdata, actually.

LOL, I was joking but holy crap!

 

[PBG4 Dude]

LOL, I was joking but holy crap!

Yeah, they don’t mess around!

I think Emerdata was where Nix went after he was “suspended” as CA’s CEO. Had to do the initial setup legwork I guess.

 

[adamjackson]

It's actually kind of sad for everyone working there. One person collected data using Facebook's APIs and Open-Graph that was well documented and is used by millions of other Facebook Applications and for the last 10 years, the company Cambridge Analytica used the data to help politicians (including Obama for those on the left) and instead of Facebook losing company value, their stock is flying higher than ever. CA is not the only company that did this. There are dozens of big data companies used by politicians.

There's no campaign reform conversations happening about how our politicians raise money, how they use big data to decide what color tie they should wear and where to have campaign stops and through all this, this small company and its employees is shutting down.

I think "Internet access as a right" needs to be re-considered and people need to be educated on what Internet usage means these days and how to protect your self online and how your data is used by huge companies like Facebook. Facebook needs to adopt GDPR standards globally and offer a paid tier for people who don't want to be tracked and USA based politics needs a huge revamp in how these guys get elected. The big data was there so they used it just like they use loopholes for massive donations and super-pacs. The whole system is broken and CA shutting down means that we completely missed the point of how screwed we all are when it comes to this broken system.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Play with fire ... get burnt!

Depends. Obama didn't get burned for sure and the people who condemn CA here cheered Obama's election strategy of using FB and other social media data back in 2008. Don't get me wrong -- I think it's a disgraceful way operate a campaign period, I'm not taking sides. I wish others would do the same and condemn any candidate, any party that employs this kind of manipulation. It's not healthy for democracy.

 

[Zachari]

It's actually kind of sad for everyone working there. One person collected data using Facebook's APIs and Open-Graph that was well documented and is used by millions of other Facebook Applications and for the last 10 years, the company Cambridge Analytica used the data to help politicians (including Obama for those on the left) and instead of Facebook losing company value, their stock is flying higher than ever. CA is not the only company that did this. There are dozens of big data companies used by politicians.

There's no campaign reform conversations happening about how our politicians raise money, how they use big data to decide what color tie they should wear and where to have campaign stops and through all this, this small company and its employees is shutting down.

I think "Internet access as a right" needs to be re-considered and people need to be educated on what Internet usage means these days and how to protect your self online and how your data is used by huge companies like Facebook. Facebook needs to adopt GDPR standards globally and offer a paid tier for people who don't want to be tracked and USA based politics needs a huge revamp in how these guys get elected. The big data was there so they used it just like they use loopholes for massive donations and super-pacs. The whole system is broken and CA shutting down means that we completely missed the point of how screwed we all are when it comes to this broken system.

I am glad people actually see through the ********.

 

[miniyou64]

Its sad how people are so outraged over a company using data that they voluntarily gave to Facebook when there’s actual dangerous organizations that compile data on everyone without consent that result in real consequences

 

[SoggyCheese]

Will this be like when the News of the World shut down, allowing the company to legally delete huge amounts of email data they would normally have to keep? Would be rather convenient for them that wouldn’t it. For the Mercer family too, if it happened to be the case.

No, not at all. That can’t be the reason they’re doing this could it....

 

[spazzcat]

No, Emerdata, actually.

This needs to be stated over and over, they close Cambridge and opened under a new name.

 

[burgman]

Depends. Obama didn't get burned for sure and the people who condemn CA here cheered Obama's election strategy of using FB and other social media data back in 2008. Don't get me wrong -- I think it's a disgraceful way operate a campaign period, I'm not taking sides. I wish others would do the same and condemn any candidate, any party that employs this kind of manipulation. It's not healthy for democracy.

Well one asked for permission the other didn't, how do you assign equivalency to that?

 

[EdT]

It's actually kind of sad for everyone working there. One person collected data using Facebook's APIs and Open-Graph that was well documented and is used by millions of other Facebook Applications and for the last 10 years, the company Cambridge Analytica used the data to help politicians (including Obama for those on the left) and instead of Facebook losing company value, their stock is flying higher than ever. CA is not the only company that did this. There are dozens of big data companies used by politicians.

There's no campaign reform conversations happening about how our politicians raise money, how they use big data to decide what color tie they should wear and where to have campaign stops and through all this, this small company and its employees is shutting down.

I think "Internet access as a right" needs to be re-considered and people need to be educated on what Internet usage means these days and how to protect your self online and how your data is used by huge companies like Facebook. Facebook needs to adopt GDPR standards globally and offer a paid tier for people who don't want to be tracked and USA based politics needs a huge revamp in how these guys get elected. The big data was there so they used it just like they use loopholes for massive donations and super-pacs. The whole system is broken and CA shutting down means that we completely missed the point of how screwed we all are when it comes to this broken system.

I think I agree with your sentiments but not with your implementation.

I think you, not businesses or governments, own your personal data, and no one that you haven’t implicitly given the rights to use that data. I think you have the right to rescind that permission to any company without needing a reason.

Government needs a warrant to access that data and businesses need permission. If a business wants to offer expanded services or a discounted price if you give them that access then fine, a person can decide to let them access data including where you browse and what you search for but it all must be above board and that permission can be removed, meaning the company must remove that persons data.

 

[Huntn]

It didn't actually shut down. All the people behind it just created a new company while adding even more bad actors, including Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater and brother of Betsy DeVos. http://www.businessinsider.com/camb...ives-and-mercer-family-launch-emerdata-2018-3

I know it says this in the article but the top comments don't suggest that people are actually reading it to the end.

Our conservatives are only worried about the Steele Trump dossier.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Well one asked for permission the other didn't, how do you assign equivalency to that?

They were both forms of manipulation to the general public. If you want to quibble over shades of gray to make "your guy" seem more innocent then that's your burden to carry. But ultimately what was done in 2008 grew in 2012, and birthed 2016. The next election will be worse. I gather whether it's "worse" to you depends on who wins though. You seems to support the notion that the means justifies the ends as long as its the ends you seek. Otherwise it's bad. Real bad.

 

[bladerunner2000]

Good.

Now to shut down Facebook.

 

[BJMRamage]

From what I read the company took the information that was out there and any info gained via third-party apps, had it in their Terms & Conditions nobody ever reads.

 

[NT1440]

Remember folks, SLC Group is only evil when Trump uses it, just ignore the dozens of elections world wide they've been interfering on behalf of the US, NATO, and the UK...nothing to see here.

 

[wschutz]

It didn't actually shut down. All the people behind it just created a new company while adding even more bad actors, including Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater and brother of Betsy DeVos. http://www.businessinsider.com/camb...ives-and-mercer-family-launch-emerdata-2018-3

I know it says this in the article but the top comments don't suggest that people are actually reading it to the end.

Obviously people don't read. The header is enough.

No one would be crazy enough to close down a company that has achieved such success, regardless of being caught or not.
The usual move is to change names, which is what they are doing in the end. People will forget and/or those who remember will recall that 'they closed'. Meanwhile the same business will continue runner under some other name until the next time. Nothing new, it happens every day.