If you have been following the news, you might have heard that Facebook was recently embroiled in a data privacy scandal, where a company called Cambridge Analytica was accused of misusing the data that they had gotten from Facebook, resulting in Facebook pulling their access to their data.Most of the anger seems to have been pointed at Facebook, presumably for allowing it to happen in the first place, but it seems that at the end of the day, Cambridge Analytica might have been the one that has lost the most because it has been confirmed that Cambridge Analytica will be shutting down.
However it isn’t just Cambridge Analytica that will be shutting down, but the SCL Group (parent company) will be shutting down as well. This was confirmed by Nigel Oakes, the group’s founder, to The Wall Street Journal along with a press release posted on Cambridge Analytica’s website.
According to the press release, “Despite Cambridge Analytica’s unwavering confidence that its employees have acted ethically and lawfully, which view is now fully supported by Mr. Malins’ report, 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, which left Cambridge Analytica with no realistic alternative to placing the Company into administration.”
In the meantime Facebook has been taking steps to ensure that its users have better control over their privacy, as well as being more transparent with what apps have access to what.