Cambridge Analytica Just Shut Down All Its U.S. Offices

[DonViejo]

Source: Gizmodo





Melanie Ehrenkranz
25 minutes ago

On Wednesday, Cambridge Analytica employees learned that its parent company, the SCL Group, was shuttering its U.S. offices, with American-based workers directed to return their keycards immediately, according to documentation reviewed by Gizmodo.

The news was announced during a conference call led by Julian Wheatland, the current chairman of the SCL Group who was reportedly tapped to take over as Cambridge Analytica’s next CEO. The fate of the entire company remains unclear.

During the call, Wheatland said that the board determined that rebranding the company’s current offerings in the current environment is “futile.”

Cambridge Analytica and SCL have offices in London, New York City, Arlington, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. The conference call was originally scheduled for Tuesday morning, but was repeatedly pushed back until early Wednesday afternoon, ultimately getting rescheduled more than half a dozen times.



Read more: https://gizmodo.com/cambridge-analytica-just-shut-down-all-its-us-offices-1825698536

[Botany]

1. It is Mueller time

[dalton99a]

3. Yep.

[Botany]

7. Mueller might have real time audio and maybe video of Manafort speaking to his Russian contacts ...

..... via Cambridge Analytica.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210563241#post1

[dalton99a]

8. I wouldn't doubt it at all.

[PaulX2]

29. Arrest The Owners They Were Involved In The Crimes

Lock the Mercers up. Just like regular poor criminals.

For once have justice.

I know, I know. Jail is for the poor, and people like Mercers can commit all the crimes they want. They are too rich to prosecute.

[lagomorph777]

2. Good news - now, will the UK still tolerate their presence?

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. They appear to be closing in the UK too, according to Channel 4 News

which is currently broadcasting, though there isn't a web story for it yet.

[BumRushDaShow]

19. The Guardian & Independent has it

Cambridge Analytica closing after Facebook data harvesting scandal

SCL Group and its Cambridge Analytica consultancy, which were at the centre of this year’s Facebook privacy row, are closing and starting insolvency proceedings. The company has been plagued by scandal since the Observer reported that the personal data of about 50 million Americans and at least a million Britons had been harvested from Facebook and improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica.

Cambridge Analytica denies any wrongdoing, but says that the negative media coverage has left it with no clients and mounting legal fees.

“Despite Cambridge Analytica’s unwavering confidence that its employees have acted ethically and lawfully, the siege of media coverage has driven away virtually all of the company’s customers and suppliers,” said the company in a statement. “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 company has started insolvency proceedings in the US and UK.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/may/02/cambridge-analytica-closing-down-after-facebook-row-reports-say

Cambridge Analytica is shutting down following Facebook user data scandal, reports say

Jeremy B White San Francisco
5 hours ago

Cambridge Analytica, the political consulting firm at the centre of a storm around misuse of Facebook user data, is shutting down.

“The Company is immediately ceasing all operations” and has filed applications to begin insolvency proceedings in the UK, Cambridge Analytica said in a statement.

The statement also pushed back against widespread allegations that the company had improperly obtained Facebook user data to craft targeted advertisements, saying it “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”.
Read more

The company, which was retained by Donald Trump's presidential campaign, has come under tremendous pressure after it was revealed to have obtained data associated with up to 87 million Facebook users.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/cambridge-analytica-shutting-down-closing-uk-us-facebook-data-scandal-controversy-a8333496.html

[catrose]

23. Not even Ted Cruz stayed with them?

He was a big client also. I wish someone would investigate his election.

[BumRushDaShow]

24. He's gonna have to find another

Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe outfit to use. I just hope that Beto O'Rourke can unseat him.

[catrose]

25. oh, me too!

[bullwinkle428]

4. "All employees will be offered positions in the new Moscow office!"

[Bengus81]

5. My first thought,opening in NEW office space in Russia........

[watoos]

6. Post of the Day.

[onetexan]

10. LOL

[Gothmog]

9. From my twitter feed

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[nitpicker]

11. Link to CNBC

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/02/cambridge-analytica-is-shutting-down-wsj.html

[RockRaven]

12. You can't answer subpoenas

if you cease to exist.

[NewJeffCT]

13. They've already renamed themselves EMERDATA

and have re-opened with the same cast of crooks at the top.

Link to tweet

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. That's an important point. So far, news stories aren't talking about it (nt)

[Leghorn21]

22. All the tweeters are, muriel -

Link to tweet

?s=20

Shmambridge Shmanalytica would be happy to take all of Cambridge Analytica's old clients. Ironically we are located at the same location with the same employees but we assure you, for legal purposes, this is a whole new company."

[muriel_volestrangler]

33. It's now being noted in the media articles:

Although Cambridge Analytica might be dead, the team behind it has already set up a mysterious new company called Emerdata. According to Companies House data, Alexander Nix is listed as a director along with other executives from SCL Group. The daughters of the billionaire Robert Mercer are also listed as directors.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/may/02/cambridge-analytica-closing-down-after-facebook-row-reports-say

Rebekah Mercer and her sister Jennifer joined the board of a new data gathering company called Emerdata on March 16, but it is unclear what their roles will be.

Nix was named a director of Emerdata in February, before the Facebook scandal broke — but was terminated on April 13, according to a British government filing. That same day, Alexander Tayler, the former chief data officer at Cambridge Analytica, was named a director of Emerdata.

Wheatland, who conducted the phone call with U.S. staffers informing them of the company’s closing on Wednesday, joined as a director of Emerdata on March 19.

In a British government filing declaring her new role as director at Emerdata, Rebekah Mercer listed her correspondence address as 597 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan — Cambridge Analytica’s New York office.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/cambridge-analytica-close-down-following-facebook-data-scandal-n870831

Digital Trends puts it in the headline:

Cambridge Analytica closes as former executives create another data company

Although Cambridge Analytica may be going away, its practices and business model may still live on. According to public filings in Britain, Nix and SCL chairman Julian Whitman are listed as directors in new data analytic firm Emerdata. “It isn’t clear what Emerdata does, though the company is listed under “data processing, hosting, and related activities.” It shares an address in Canary Wharf with Cambridge Analytica’s parent, SCL Group,” Business Insider reported.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/cambridge-analytica-shuts-down/

[salin]

36. I missed this. Great development per news coverage, as the information has been out there for more

than a month.

Thanks for the update and links.

[Leghorn21]

27. Yep. From linked businessinsider article, March of this year:

The power players behind Cambridge Analytica have set up a mysterious new data company

Shona Ghosh Mar 21, 2018, 6:05 AM ET


- The power players behind Cambridge Analytica have set up a new company - and thedaughters of Donald Trump-supporting billionaire Robert Mercer have just joined as directors.

- Rebekah and Jennifer Mercer joined Emerdata on March 16, but it is shrouded in mystery.

- Alexander Nix, the suspended CEO of Cambridge Analytica, is also a director, as well as other executives from parent firm SCL Group.

- Emerdata also lists Johnson Chun Shun Ko, a Chinese executive from Frontier Services Group, the military firm chaired by prominent Trump supporter Erik Prince.


https://amp.businessinsider.com/cambridge-analytica-executives-and-mercer-family-launch-emerdata-2018-3?__twitter_impression=true

Well, it’s not so “mysterious” now!!
Everyone on twitter knows this, from what I’m reading today -

[salin]

35. 10+

This seems to be missing from most news reports about CA closing down. It needs to become a part of each and every one of those stories.

[Gothmog]

15. press release

Link to tweet

[hurple]

17. And, please...

DO let the door hit you on the way out.

[pecosbob]

18. Same as Blackwater and CCA

simply rebranding so they can continue committing crimes without public scrutiny. Personally, I'm doubtful at this point anyone will be held to account.

[PaulX2]

26. Livin' In The USA!

Its not really a crime.

[stuffmatters]

30. Yep. Blackwater's the perfect example. They'll just come back (more evil) under another name

hq'd in another country . The "bankruptcy"is a nice touch too...

[Eugene]

20. BBC: Cambridge Analytica: Facebook data-harvest firm to shut

Source: BBC

Cambridge Analytica: Facebook data-harvest firm to shut

2 May 2018

Cambridge Analytica, the political consultancy at the centre of the Facebook data-sharing scandal, is shutting down.

The firm was accused of improperly obtaining personal information on behalf of political clients.

-snip-

Clarence Mitchell, a spokesman for Cambridge Analytica, referred the BBC to a statement on the firm's website.

"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," it said.

"Despite Cambridge Analytica's unwavering confidence that its employees have acted ethically and lawfully... 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."

-snip-

Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-43983958

[cstanleytech]

21. Sounds like an attempt to stop any investigation into them.

[pnwmom]

28. Cambridge Analytica has gone bankrupt in the US and the UK.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2018/05/02/cambridge-analytica-shutting-down-wake-facebook-data-crisis/573963002/

Cambridge Analytica, the political ad marketing firm that worked for President Trump and was involved in the misappropriation of 87 million Facebook users' data is closing its offices.

The specialist in political predictions announced that bankruptcy proceedings will begin in the U.S., as well as insolvency proceedings in the U.K, where the firm has an office and where its parent company The SCL Group is based.

“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,” the company said in a statement Wednesday.

The company came to public attention in March when Facebook announced — on the eve of two explosive newspaper reports in The New York Times and the U.K.'s Observer — it had learned Cambridge Analytica and its parent company had failed to delete personal data that the social network knew it had improperly obtained on Facebook users three years ago.

[stuffmatters]

31. More attn needs to be paid to Koch Bros i360; reportedy more massive cyber psych op than CA

Even more dangerous and penetrative.

[Thunderbeast]

32. I see...

Not a conspiracy problem.....
Not a legal problem....
Not a treason problem....
Not a data privacy problem.....

IT'S A BRANDING PROBLEM!

Time to put the Mercers, the Kochs, and their enablers up against the wall.

They need a firing squad problem!

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

34. They'll be back

under another name

[Ilsa]

37. "Turn in your ID cards. New cards to be issued tomorrow."