Facebook data breach firm Cambridge Analytica 'ceasing all operations'

Data firm Cambridge Analytica has announced it is "ceasing all operations" following the Facebook (NasdaqGS: FB - news) data breach.

In a statement, the British firm said it had been "the subject of numerous unfounded accusations" and was "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."

Eighteen enforcement officers spent the night searching Cambridge Analytica's offices after the High Court granted a warrant in March.

The Information Commissioner's office obtained a legal order to access their records and data, after it emerged the company had harvested information from 50 million Facebook users.

The social media giant later revealed that 87 million people may been affected by the leak, with most of them based in the US.

Facebook's chief executive Mark Zuckerberg called the leak a "huge mistake, it's my mistake".

Cambridge Analytica was linked with helping the Leave.EU campaign ahead of the EU referendum in June 2016, and Donald Trump's presidential campaign the same year.

The firm used its Facebook data to build psychological profiles on a large portion of the US electorate.

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

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

Facebook has since tightened its privacy restrictions.

Cambridge Analytica always denied wrongdoing and Trump's campaign has said it didn't use their data.

The firm maintained its innocence right up to the point it ceased operations on Wednesday evening, and said in a statement: "Despite Cambridge Analytica's unwavering confidence that its employees have acted ethically and lawfully, which view is now fully supported by Mr Malins' report (independent investigator Julian Malins), 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."

The firm had said it was committed to helping the UK investigation into Facebook and how it uses its information.

But the Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham said in March that the firm failed to meet a deadline to produce the information requested.

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

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