British consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica (CA) lies at the centre of a storm for using data obtained from millions of Facebook users without their permission after it was hired by Donald Trump for his 2016 US presidential election campaign.
However, the analytics firm is also under scrutiny over campaigning for the 2016 referendum when Britons voted to leave the European Union.
CA and the leaders of the Leave.EU group have previously boasted about working together during the Brexit campaign. However, they have since retracted their claims, saying no contract was signed and no work was completed.
Parliament is investigating the links between CA and Leave.EU as part of an investigation into fake news.
Did CA and Leave.EU work together?
Arron Banks, the co-founder of Leave.EU, said in a book that in October 2015 his group hired CA, a company that uses “big data and advanced psychographics” to influence people.
In a November 2015, Leave.EU said on its website that CA “will be helping us map the British electorate and what they believe in, enabling us to better engage with voters”.
In the same month, CA director Brittany Kaiser spoke at a Leave.EU news conference. She said her organisation would be “running large-scale research of the nation to really understand why people are interested in staying in or out of the EU”.
In February 2016, CA chief executive Alexander Nix wrote in Campaign magazine that his company was working for Leave.EU. “We have already helped supercharge Leave.EU’s social media campaign by ensuring the right messages are getting to the right voters online,” said Nix, who was suspended by the company this week.
Leave.EU’s communications director Andy Wigmore also said on Twitter last year that his campaign group had used the company. “You should use Cambridge Analytics,” he said, adding that he could “highly recommend them”.
What does Leave.EU say now?
Banks says CA sought work with the Leave.EU before the referendum but that ultimately it never did any - paid or otherwise - for the campaign.
“We did have dealings with CA – they put forward a pitch that went into the designation document submitted to the electoral commission,” Banks told Reuters.
No work was done with CA because Leave.EU did not win the designation as the official leave campaign and due to concerns about the consultancy, Banks said.
When asked if Leave.EU paid or accepted any services from CA, Banks said: “No benefit in kind, no data, no nothing.”
Banks told a parliamentary committee earlier this month that when he referred to CA being “hired” in his book this was a reference to the intention to work them.
What does CA say now?
Nix told a parliamentary committee last month that he contacted Banks and Wigmore and their statements were not true.
The article written in the Campaign magazine was a mistake and “drafted by a slightly overzealous PR consultant”, he said.
This “referenced work that we hoped and intended to undertake for the campaign. Subsequently, work was never undertaken. The moment that that statement went out we were absolutely crystal clear to all the media outlets that we were not involved and that it had been released in error,” he said.
READ MORE
Bersatu mulls legal action against PMO, Cambridge Analytica
Cambridge Analytica tight-lipped on GE14 engagements
Mukhriz and ex-aide accuse each other of lying over Cambridge Analytica
Mukhriz slams 'misleading' PMO, says diverting from 'illegal tactics'
PMO claims Cambridge Analytica reported directly to Mukhriz
Granny’s blood pressure rises due to CA controversy
Harapan MPs: BN-CA link reeks of ‘foreign interference’
Cambridge Analytica - Muhyiddin in the dark, says Najib does things on his own
Mukhriz pleads ignorance on Cambridge Analytica’s role in Kedah
Did you manipulate GE13, Bersatu’s Wan Saiful asks Najib
‘Sex, lies and bribes’ - Trump’s election consultants admit to working in M’sia
Zuckerberg says FB made mistakes on user data, vows curbs
CEO outlines steps Facebook will take after data breach
Cambridge Analytica denies entrapping, says ‘grossly misrepresented’
Suspended Cambridge Analytica boss boasts of influencing US polls
Facebook hires independent auditors to probe alleged data breach
UK authorities seek warrant to search Cambridge Analytica offices
Factbox: What is Cambridge Analytica and what did it do?
