The company decided to close its doors because it was losing clients and facing mounting legal fees in the Facebook investigation, according to people familiar with the matter. SCL Group and SCL Elections, which are affiliated with Cambridge Analytica, also are shutting down in the U.S. and the U.K. Cambridge Analytica and SCL Elections issued a joint statement on Wednesday confirming the companies' closures. "Over the past several months, Cambridge Analytica has been the subject of numerous unfounded accusations," the statement said. "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."

Cambridge Analytica, the data firm at the centre of this year's Facebook privacy row, is 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, which also revealed that SCL Elections Ltd, the UK entity affiliated with Cambridge Analytica, would also close and start insolvency proceedings. "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."

Facebook's reputation took a massive hit earlier this year when it was revealed that it had improperly provided user data to UK-based political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. However, the damage appeared to be much greater in the other direction, as the controversial Cambridge Analytica announced Wednesday that it would cease operations and file for bankruptcy. Cambridge Analytica is shutting down. The firm with ties to Trump's campaign says the Facebook data scandal drove away business. The firm announced its closure in a statement on its website.

Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy that worked for the Trump campaign and had come under attack for its use of personal Facebook data in other elections, announced on Wednesday it would cease operations and declare bankruptcy in the United States and United Kingdom. The firm said it had lost clients because of revelations in March that it had improperly obtained the personal information of millions of Facebook users. "It is no longer viable to continue operating the business," Cambridge Analytica said in a statement. Cambridge Analytica defended its use of Facebook, saying it was "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 decision by the firm comes as it continues to face potential investigations and sanctions from regulators around the world for charges.

Cambridge Analytica, the firm that used data from millions of Facebook users without their knowledge, said Wednesday that it is "immediately ceasing all operations." The firm worked for President Trump's 2016 campaign. SCL Elections Ltd., Cambridge Analytica's U.K.-based parent firm, said the company had begun the process of filing for bankruptcy for Cambridge Analytica and some of its U.S. affiliates, and was moving to apply for insolvency in the U.K. "Over the past several months," the company said in a statement, "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 also said it had "unwavering confidence that its employees have acted ethically and lawfully" after an internal investigation but that a barrage of negative media coverage drove away "virtually all" of Cambridge Analytica's customers and suppliers. In March, Britain's Channel 4 exposed Cambridge Analytica's stealthy means of supporting clients.

Here's how a data firm helped Donald Trump get elected as president. Cambridge Analytica's chief executive officer Alexander Nix gives an interview during the 2017 Web Summit in Lisbon on November 9, 2017. 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 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". 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 87m Facebook users. Seeking to contain a spiralling crisis, Facebook executives have repeatedly faulted Cambridge Analytica and researcher Aleksander Kogan for the data transfer. The company says Mr Kogan harvested data from a survey app and then passed it along to Cambridge Analytica, which did not destroy the data despite having claimed to do so.

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. According to Facebook, data about up to 87 million of its members was harvested by an app and then passed onto the political consultancy. The social network said its own probe into the matter would continue. "This doesn't change our commitment and determination to understand exactly what happened and make sure it doesn't happen again," said a spokesman.

The latest Fox News Poll finds that nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of current users say they care if Facebook shares their information with others, and a large 43 percent minority have thought about deleting their account in order to protect their privacy. Think about your interaction with Facebook as a relationship. Now, imagine being at dinner with someone new and they say they are recording the conversation, taking your fingerprints, tracking your movements and they are going to share all of that data with everyone--without your knowledge or consent. According to Matt Erickson, executive director at the Digital Privacy Alliance, that unpleasant scenario is what his colleagues are working against and what Europe's sweeping new privacy regulations taking effect on May 25 are meant to help prevent. During his recent Capitol Hill testimony, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company already has controls in place to comply with Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and told lawmakers they'd likely extend some of those protections to its 2.2 billion users globally.

MPs today warned Mark Zuckerberg they are ready to issue a formal summons to force him to give evidence on the Facebook data scandal. The Culture Committee has written to the billionaire insisting the 40million UK users of his site deserve'answers'. There was fury last week after it emerged Mr Zuckerberg has agreed to give evidence to the European Parliament - despite still snubbing the House of Commons inquiry. He has already appeared before the US senate, but sent a deputy to be grilled by the MPs. The Culture Committee has written to the billionaire insisting the 40million UK users of his site deserve'answers' Culture, Media and Sport Committee chairman Damian Collins stunned his colleagues by revealing the development while they grilled another executive sent in Mr Zuckerberg's place In a letter to Facebook UK's head of public policy Rebecca Stimson, committee chairman Damian Collins wrote: 'Following reports that he will be giving evidence to the European Parliament in May, we would like Mr Zuckerberg to come to London during his European trip. We would like the session here to take place by 24 May.