The Fair Vote Project obtains an extension of preservation order of British citizens’ data possibly being held in Mississippi
A former senior Cambridge Analytica employee told MPs’ that she believed prominent figures who backed Leave misused private data from Eldon Insurance Services Ltd and UKIP to influence the outcome of the Brexit referendum.
Brittany Kaiser said during her testimony that Arron Banks, who owns Eldon, and Andy Wigmore had said they wished to create “their own Cambridge Analytica” at the University of Mississippi using her proposals.
This alleged misused data is possibly being stored on a server at the University of Mississippi. Keeping U.K. data outside of the EEA without consent or proper protections is a violation of the Data Protection Act.
Hinds County Chancery Court Judge Dewayne Thomas last Friday extended a temporary injunction against Eldon Insurance Services Ltd and Big Data Dolphins Ltd, meaning they cannot destroy, alter or transfer any data currently being held.
How did Eldon and Big Data Dolphins come to lease server space in Mississippi?
Phil Bryant, Mississippi Governor, fostered a relationship with Arron Banks and Nigel Farage. Bryant says that he was informed that Eldon needed somewhere to undertake research and so he connected them with the University of Mississippi.
The Information Commissioner’s Office and the DCMS select committee are aware of the preservation order and the ongoing legal process.
Eldon, a UK-based company, was present during the hearing.
Kyle Taylor, Director of The Fair Vote Project, said “Eldon Insurance appear to have sent a representative to the hearing – what is there on that server that is so important that someone travelled all the way from Bristol to Mississippi to try and stop us from obtaining an extended preservation order?
If there’s nothing to see here as their lawyers claim why all the fuss to stop us from accessing this server to make sure?
The Judge’s decision to grant us an extension shows that he believes there is reasonable grounds to suspect British citizens’ data is indeed being held unlawfully in Mississippi.
We need to know for certain if this is the case and what it is was used for – Kaiser’s testimony seems to point to the strong possibility that the data was used in ways that are anti-democratic and that may cast doubt over the Brexit referendum result but also the ability of our democracy to function freely and fairly in the digital age.”
