Cambridge Analytica, the data firm that was working on Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, declared it would close its offices. On Wednesday, Cambridge Analytica representatives discovered that its parent organization, the SCL Group, was shutting the business, and American-employees were asked to return their keycards promptly.
“The Company is immediately ceasing all operations,” it said in a statement Wednesday, announcing bankruptcy proceedings would soon begin.
The news was declared amid a telephone call by Julian Wheatland, the present chairman of the SCL Group, who was supposedly tapped to assume control as Cambridge Analytica’s next CEO. Both Cambridge Analytica and SCL Elections will now close their doors. Amid the call, Wheatland said that the board established that rebranding the organization’s contributions in the present condition is “futile.” In an official statement, Cambridge Analytica declared that SCL Elections and other associated organizations have petitioned for indebtedness in the UK, with bankruptcy procedures in the U.S. to take after.
“Despite Cambridge Analytica’s unwavering confidence that its employees have acted ethically and lawfully, which view is now fully supported by , the siege of media coverage has driven away virtually all of the Company’s customers and suppliers,” states the release. “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 controversy around Cambridge Analytica’s asserted abuse of Facebook information. This brought up a large number of new issues about the online networking mammoth’s part in people’s lives and elections, which helped incite investigation in Washington, where a month ago, Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, testified before advisory committees in both houses of Congress.
Christopher Wylie, the former Cambridge Analytica employee who was the first to ring the alarm on the alleged misuse of Facebook data, told CNN in a statement on Wednesday, “Cambridge Analytica has been exposed as a company undermining democratic institutions around the world. There are still many unanswered questions, and we must be sure that its decision to close is not merely a rebranding exercise or a way to circumvent ongoing investigations. This story is the canary in the coal mine,” he said. “Our democracies are still vulnerable to attack from hostile agents and Cambridge Analytica will not be the last.”
