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The head of the British parliamentary committee investigating Cambridge Analytica has expressed scepticism at the data-mining company's claim that it is shutting down.
Key points:
- The company said media reports had stripped it of customers and suppliers
- It was accused of improperly collecting data on millions of Facebook users
- It was hired by Donald Trump's campaign team during the 2016 US election
MP Damian Collins was speaking after the data firm at the centre of Facebook's privacy scandal released a statement announcing it would cease operations immediately and begin bankruptcy proceedings.
The firm said it had been "vilified" for actions it said were both legal and widely accepted as part of online advertising.
It said the media furore stripped it of its customers and suppliers, forcing it to close.
But Mr Collins, the head of the British House of Commons Media Committee, cast doubt on those claims, telling the BBC investigations into the firm must be able to continue.
"We've got to make sure that this is not an attempt to run and hide, that these companies aren't closing down to try and avoid being rigorously investigated," he said.
Cambridge Analytica, which had clients including Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, sought information on Facebook to build psychological profiles on a large portion of the US electorate.
The company 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 87 million Facebook users, even those who did not download the app themselves. Facebook has since tightened its privacy restrictions.
Cambridge Analytica was created in 2013 initially with a focus on US elections, with $US15 million ($20 million) in backing from billionaire Republican donor Robert Mercer and a name chosen by future Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon, The New York Times reported.
It marketed itself as providing consumer research, targeted advertising and other data-related services to both political and corporate clients.
The company has denied any wrongdoing, and Mr Trump's campaign has said it did not use Cambridge's data.
Questions raised over new company
Several key personnel at Cambridge Analytica were recently involved in setting up a new data company named Emerdata.
Business Insider reported Mr Mercer's daughters, Rebekah and Jennifer Mercer, joined the company's board in March, while Cambridge Analytica's suspended CEO Alexander Nix was named as a director in January but was removed on March 28.
Filings at Britain's Companies House on Emerdata said Cambridge's chief data officer, Alexander Tayler, set up the company alongside Julian Whatland, the chairman of the disgraced data firm's parent company SCL Group.
SCL Group will also shut down alongside Cambridge Analytica, the Wall Street Journal reported.
It is not known what will happen to Emerdata following today's announcement, and the Cambridge Analytica statement made no reference to Emerdata, which is located at the same London building as Cambridge Analytica
Cambridge Analytica had said it was committed to helping the UK investigation into Facebook and how it used data.
But UK Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham said in March the firm failed to meet a deadline to produce the information requested.
Ms 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.
ABC/wires
Topics: world-politics, social-media, information-and-communication, advertising-and-marketing, business-economics-and-finance, united-states
First posted