A recently controversial British data firm says it will close up shop after weeks of heavy criticism for its work combining Facebook user data and U.S. politics. Cambridge Analytica, which consulted on President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign and others, and collected data from millions of unwitting Facebook users, announced Wednesday that it is "immediately ceasing all operations" following prolonged scrutiny of its practices in these areas. SCL Elections Ltd., the firm's U.K.-based parent company, said it has started filing for bankruptcy for Cambridge Analytica and some of its U.S. affiliates, and intends to apply for insolvency itself in the U.K. As the Wall Street Journal noted, the company is shutting down after weeks of near-continuous backlash and disclosures around its use of Facebook data, as well as the methods it proposed for helping campaigns. In March, Cambridge Analytica chief executive Alexander Nix was suspended from the company, which said it was launching an independent investigation into its performance and tactics with political clients.

Source: Forbes May 02, 2018 21:43 UTC