Cambridge Analytica closes its doors but a new company already exists. Time to stop this once and for all with a digital bill of rights enshrined in law
Nigel Oakes, founder of SCL Elections, announced that SCL and Cambridge Analytica will be shutting their doors and filing insolvency proceedings. The Fair Vote Project asks does this mean data they hold could be destroyed and can we be certain that they will be held to account?
In the six weeks since whistleblower Christopher Wiley – supported by The Fair Vote Project – came forward with evidence of Cambridge Analytica’s widespread misuse of Facebook data, evidence has continued to grow about the ways SCL, Cambridge Analytica, and partner companies such as AIQ, have been using misappropriated data to create sophisticated and highly personalised microtargeting tools which have been used in elections all around the world. Investigations into Cambridge Analytica’s activities are ongoing in several countries, including the U.K.
Kyle Taylor, Founder and Director of The Fair Vote Project, said: “The Fair Vote Project has been working tirelessly across this data issue and its implications. While this is a welcome development, it is essential that governments and media outlets do not stop here. The real story is this: While SCL and Cambridge Analytica are shutting their doors, some of the key players involved have already moved on to a new company: Emerdata. Current CA CEO Julian Wheatland and Chief Data Officer Dr Alexander Tayler are both listed as Directors of Emerdata, and disgraced former CEO Alexander Nix was the founding CEO. Rebekah and Jennifer Mercer, daughters of billionaire Robert Mercer, one of the creators of Cambridge Analytica, are on the board.
This is exactly what you’d expect from individuals and entities like these – dump the organisation (and responsibilities, note CA have filed for insolvency) and spring up under a new name doing the same morally corrupt work. That’s why The Fair Vote Project are demanding consequential reform to the Electoral Commission and aim to enshrine a digital bill of rights for our democracy to make sure these entities – whatever they’re named – are never able to infiltrate our elections again.
Without proper laws and systems in place to prevent the misuse of data and the circumvention of traditional law online, companies like Cambridge Analytica can continue to spread misinformation in elections worldwide. Recent news about Facebook’s failure to stem the spread of fake news in the Irish referendum only further illustrates that this problem will not go away with the closing down of Cambridge Analytica and SCL. We cannot trust companies like Facebook to “self-regulate.” It’s time government’s did their job and intervene immediately to ensure people in the U.K. and around the world are safe from predatory practices.
The future of democracies everywhere hinge on our ability to create strong protections for digital information. The Fair Vote Project’s proposed digital bill aims to permanently protect our democratic institutions from this malfeasance because the type of work Cambridge Analytica has engaged in will continue until we stand up for our very way of life.”
The Fair Vote Project was set up to tackle the issue of data misuse, voter manipulation and lack of transparency in elections head-on. We are committed to ensuring the institutions that protect our democratic processes are fit for purpose in a digital age.
