Cambridge Analytica: UK data watchdog applies for warrant to search firm's servers as Facebook told to 'stand down' its own probe

Britain's Information Commissioner will seek a warrant to search computers and servers used by the London-based political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica (CA), which is accused of using the personal data of tens-of-millions of Facebook members to influence 2016's US presidential election. Elizabeth Denham said the company had failed to cooperate after she issued a Demand for Access to records and data it held on 7 March. "Cambridge Analytica has not responded to the commissioner by the deadline provided. Therefore, the Information Commissioner is seeking a warrant to obtain information and access to systems and evidence related to her investigation," her office said in a statement. A whistleblower, Christopher Wylie, who worked with CA, claimed the company had amassed the data of some 50 million people through a personality quiz on Facebook called This is Your Digital Life, created by academic Aleksandr Kogan, of Global Science Research.