Cambridge Analytica latest: UK’s Information Commissioner seeks court warrant over Facebook breach claims
The information commissioner is seeking an urgent warrant to gain access to the London offices of election consultancy Cambridge Analytica, after being accused of using 50 million Facebook users’ personal data to influence the 2016 US elections.
An ICO spokesman said the commission had issued a demand to access CA’s records and data earlier this month, but the firm had not responded within the deadline provided.
“Therefore, the Information Commissioner is seeking a warrant to obtain information and access to systems and evidence related to her investigation,” he added.
Facebook – which at the weekend was revealed to have been “exploited to harvest millions of people’s data” – has been conducting a data audit, but the ICO has told it to stop for fears it could undermine a “regulatory investigation”.
“On March 19, Facebook announced that it will stand down its search of Cambridge Analytica premises at the Information Commissioner’s request. Such a search would potentially compromise a regulatory investigation,” the spokesman explained.
Information commssioner Elizabeth Denham is looking at whether personal data was acquired in “an unauthorised way”, whether there was sufficient consent to share the data, what was done to safeguard it and whether Facebook acted robustly when they found out about the loss of the data.
Yesterday digital minister Margot James told delegates at the Advertising Week conference that the claims against Cambridge Analytica “exemplifies what I’m talking about that cannot go unchecked and unanswered – the harms are too great.”
The request for a warrant follows an undercover report by Channel 4 News last night, in which senior figures at Cambridge Analytica boasted of using honey traps, running fake news campaigns and coordinating operations with former spies to influence election campaigns around the world.
Boss Alexander Nix was filmed bragging about the dirty tricks used to win political campaigns.
“It sounds a dreadful thing to say but these are things that don’t necessarily need to be true, as long as they’re believed,” he said.
After the C4N investigation was aired, Nix appeared on Newsnight to defend the company, insisting that Cambridge Analytica had done nothing wrong beyond the fact “we spoke with a certain amount of hyperbole”.
The firm also issued a statement, claiming it had been entrapped by the undercover reporter.
Nix said: “In playing along with this line of conversation, and partly to spare our ‘client’ from embarrassment, we entertained a series of ludicrous hypothetical scenarios. I am aware how this looks, but it is simply not the case. I must emphatically state that Cambridge Analytica does not condone or engage in entrapment, bribes or so-called ‘honey traps’, and nor does it use untrue material for any purpose.
“I deeply regret my role in the meeting and I have already apologised to staff. I should have recognised where the prospective client was taking our conversations and ended the relationship sooner.”
Watch the Channel 4 News investigation below.