Cambridge Analytica closure – how was it involved with the Facebook data scandal and who is whistleblower Christopher Wylie?
BRITISH company Cambridge Analytica became engulfed in a Facebook data scandal which put the social media giant in the spotlight on both sides of the Atlantic.
Here's what we know about data firm Cambridge Analytica, the Facebook data breach and the company's board of directors.
What is Cambridge Analytica and is it closing down?
Cambridge Analytica is a London-based company that helps business and political groups "change audience behaviour".
They muster up data on voters through their internet-use. This data is then analysed and packaged so that political spin doctors can create more effective slogans and campaign messages.
The company was only set up in 2013, launching as a spin-off project from parent company SCL Group.
It collects data from sources including social media platforms like Facebook.
On May 2, 2018, the firm announced it was to close down and end all operations amid concerns over legal fees and the loss of clients following the data scandal.
In a statement Cambridge Analytica 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 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."
What is the Facebook data scandal?
Cambridge Analytica inappropriately gained access to data from 50 million Facebook users in the US.
This data was used to help get their client Donald Trump elected.
The alleged breach came to light thanks to a Cambridge Analytica whistleblower called Christopher Wylie.
He said: "We exploited Facebook to harvest millions of people's profiles".
Who was affected by the data leak?
Facebook said the 87 million users whose data might have been shared with the political firm would get a message on their feeds.
It said most of the affected users are in the US, though there are over a million each in the Philippines, Indonesia and the UK.
There are around 40million Facebook users in Britain, so that means you have a roughly 1 in 40 chance of having had your data hoovered up without your knowledge.
Facebook's Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer revealed shared the number while discussing the steps the company was taking to restrict the personal data available to third-party app developers.
"And built models to exploit what we knew about them and target their inner demons.
"That was the basis the entire company was built on."
The data analysis firm's London offices have since been searched by police amid widespread concern over its work.
Mozilla was among the first major organisations to stop advertising on Facebook in response to concerns over the protection it offered to users' data.
The company said it is "pressing pause" on Facebook advertising at least until the social network strengthens its safeguarding.
How was the Facebook data obtained?
A Cambridge psychology professor called Aleksandr Kogan built an app called "thisisyourdigitallife" in 2015.
It was a personality quiz that asked Facebook users to provide information about themselves.
Through his company Global Science Research, Kogan shared the info obtained from the app with Cambridge Analytica.
Only 270,000 Facebook users actually signed up and took personality tests.
But the app also harvested data of all the Facebook friends connected to those users, without the permission of those friends.
Facebook reportedly knew about the data harvesting in 2015, and asked companies holding the data to delete it – but had no way of making sure that they actually did so.
This dodgy data harvesting may be illegal in a number of countries, and violates Facebook's own data policy.
European Parliament president Antonio Tajani said: "Allegations of misuse of Facebook user data is an unacceptable violation of our citizens' privacy rights.
"The European Parliament will investigate fully, calling digital platforms to account."
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg refused requests from British MPs to explain its response to the scandal.
He instead said he "personally asked" one of his deputies to attend.
In the US, the government opened a privacy investigation into the social media giant.
Related: How to download all your Facebook data
What has Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said about the scandal?
On April 9, Zuckerberg apologised for "not doing enough" to protect Facebook users data being misused.
It came in written testimony to US lawmakers, in which he admitted Facebook was slow to spot Russian election hacking, but he did not reveal new information.
In the prepared remarks, Zuckerberg, 33, said Facebook has a responsibility to make sure what happened with Cambridge Analytica doesn't happen again.
He said: "We didn't take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that10 was a big mistake.
"It was my mistake, and I'm sorry. I started Facebook, I run it, and I'm responsible for what happens here."
Who's on Cambridge Analytica's board of directors?
Cambridge Analytica is part of SCL Group, with whom it shares some of its directors.
Alexander Nix, 42, is CEO of both Cambridge Analytica and SCL Elections, but was suspended after comments he made about entrapping clients' rivals with Ukrainian prostitutes were broadcast by Channel 4.
Mark Turnbull is managing director of Cambridge Analytica's political division.
Mr Turnbull spent 18 years at communications firm Bell Pottinger before he joined SCL.
Did Cambridge Analytica's Facebook data influence Brexit?
The co-founder of the Leave.EU campaign Arron Banks said that Cambridge Analytica helped with pro-Brexit campaigns during the run-up to the 2016 referendum.
But Cambridge Analytica founder Alexander Nix denies this.
Instead, Nix says the companies only had exploratory meetings.
"We didn't get hitched. We dated each other. We had a couple of dinners but we didn't get married," he told MPs at the Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee for an investigation into fake news.
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But in his book on the EU referendum, Banks said that Cambridge Analytica was "hired" in 2015 to "develop messages" for voters.
However, Nix maintains that Cambridge Analytica "did not work for Leave.EU", and added: "We have not undertaken any paid nor unpaid work for them."
"I can only assume that they felt by associating themselves and aligning themselves with Cambridge Analytica, that would give the extra credibility and leverage in trying to compete in a bid where they were clearly the underdogs."
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