Cambridge Analytica
Political data analytics firm that worked with campaigns; now defunct.
- Entries
- 10
- On the record
- 4
- Stories
- 1
- Latest entry
- Dec 18, 2019
The record
Cambridge Analytica, LLC was a Delaware company formed in December 2013 with a principal office on Fifth Avenue in New York, part of the SCL Group family of companies, according to the Federal Trade Commission. It sold voter-profiling and marketing services and described itself as a politically neutral data-science consultancy. Its chief executive was Alexander Nix. The company filed for bankruptcy in May 2018, and SCL Group went into administration the month before.
The FTC's case centered on the GSRApp, a Facebook app built with researcher Aleksandr Kogan that collected profile data from about 250,000 to 270,000 users and 50 to 65 million of their friends. Nix and Kogan settled in July 2019; the company did not. In December 2019 the Commission ruled 5-0 that it had deceived consumers, including about its EU-U.S. Privacy Shield participation, and ordered data from the app deleted.
In Britain, SCL Elections Ltd was fined £15,000 in January 2019 for failing to comply with an Information Commissioner's enforcement notice over a subject access request. The House of Commons culture committee's final report on disinformation, published that February, found that data had been exchanged between the Canadian firm AggregateIQ and both SCL and Cambridge Analytica. Facebook separately paid the SEC $100 million over how it disclosed the data's misuse.
Roles and honours on the record
- 2013 Formed as a private Delaware limited liability company, part of the SCL Group Ltd. family of companies source
- 2013-2018 Data analytics and consulting company providing voter-profiling and marketing services, based at 597 Fifth Avenue, New York source
- as of 2018 Alexander Nix, chief executive source
Every entry, newest first
- Filed
FTC filed an administrative complaint alleging deceptive tactics; the company had filed for bankruptcy. Facebook $5B FTC penalty: what it required of Mark Zuckerberg
Stories in this file
The record, entry by entry
- 2013-12 Official Cambridge Analytica was formed as a Delaware limited liability company. SCL Elections Limited, a privately held U.K. company, held an ownership interest in it, the FTC's complaint states. Federal Trade Commission, administrative complaint, Docket No. 9383
- 2018-04 Official SCL Group went into administration, the House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee recorded. House of Commons DCMS Committee, Disinformation and 'fake news': Final Report
- 2018-05 Official Cambridge Analytica filed for bankruptcy; the FTC noted in July 2019 that the proceedings were still ongoing. Federal Trade Commission, administrative complaint, Docket No. 9383
- 2019-01-09 Ruled SCL Elections Ltd was fined £15,000 for failing to comply with an enforcement notice the Information Commissioner's Office issued in May 2018 over a U.S. academic's subject access request. House of Commons DCMS Committee, Disinformation and 'fake news': Final Report
- 2019-02-18 Official The committee's final report found that data had been exchanged between AggregateIQ and SCL and between AggregateIQ and Cambridge Analytica, and that a domain used in the project was registered to Nix. House of Commons DCMS Committee, Disinformation and 'fake news': Final Report
- 2019-07-24 Filed The FTC filed an administrative complaint alleging the company deceived Facebook users about data collection through the GSRApp, which harvested data from 250,000 to 270,000 users and 50 to 65 million of their friends. Nix and Kogan agreed to settlements; the company did not settle. Federal Trade Commission, press release
- 2019-07-24 Official The SEC said Cambridge Analytica had obtained Facebook data through a company controlled by an academic researcher and used it to build personality scores for about 30 million Americans; Facebook agreed to a $100 million penalty without admitting or denying the charges. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, press release 2019-140
- 2019-12-06 Ruled The Commission ruled 5-0 that Cambridge Analytica deceptively harvested Facebook users' information and misled consumers about its Privacy Shield participation, and ordered it to delete data collected through the GSRApp. Federal Trade Commission, press release
- 2019-12-18 Official The FTC announced final approval of its settlements with Nix and Kogan. Federal Trade Commission, case page, Docket No. 9383
Documents
- FTC case page, In the Matter of Cambridge Analytica, LLC, Docket No. 9383
- FTC administrative complaint (July 24, 2019)
- FTC press release on the Commission's opinion and order (Dec. 6, 2019)
- House of Commons DCMS Committee, Disinformation and 'fake news': Final Report (Feb. 18, 2019)
- SEC press release 2019-140, Facebook penalty (July 24, 2019)