Cambridge Analytica is Shutting Down

Aleksandr Kogan’s partner in crime and the company which caused the recent Facebook privacy scandal, Cambridge Analytica, has filed for insolvency in the UK and is shutting down.

The company is a part of the SCL Group, its parent, whose chairman Julian Wheatland announced this decision over a conference call. The parent company, along with Cambridge Analytica, SCL Elections (another SCL Group subsidiary which works in close quarters with Cambridge Analytica), and several other affiliated companies are reportedly getting shuttered as well.


ALSO READ

Twitter Also Sold Data to Researcher Involved in Cambridge Analytica Scandal


“Unfair” Media Coverage

Cambridge Analytica’s press release states that the company has already entered the liquidation process in the UK and its US-based affiliations and will soon file for bankruptcy. The company has offices in New York, London, Washington, Arlington, and Virginia.

Despite Cambridge Analytica’s unwavering confidence that its employees have acted ethically and lawfully, which view is now fully supported by Mr. Malins’ report, 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, which left Cambridge Analytica with no realistic alternative to placing the Company into administration.

According to Wheatland, the ongoing investigations and heated scrutiny caused it to become bankrupt as it started losing both reputation and clientele. A message to the company’s employees reads,

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.

The company’s employees have been requested to hand over their key-cards and most of its global facilities are closing operations.

How it Started

Cambridge Analytica used personal data of around 90 million people to do targeted political advertisement for 2016 Presidential elections in the US. This data was gathered through a personality test app, developed by Aleksandr Kogan.

For a complete background on the Cambridge Analytica-Facebook scandal, open this link. Read Cambridge Analytica’s full press release here.



Get Alerts

Follow ProPakistani to get latest news and updates.


ProPakistani Community

Join the groups below to get latest news and updates.



>