London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Nov 08, 2025

Cambridge Analytica neither misused data to influence the Brexit referendum nor colluded with Russia, watchdog finds

Cambridge Analytica neither misused data to influence the Brexit referendum nor colluded with Russia, watchdog finds

Infamous now-defunct data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica did not directly misuse data to shift votes in the Brexit referendum, nor did it work with Russia to meddle in the vote, a three-year UK investigation has found.

The lengthy investigation by the UK Information Commissioner’s office released its findings on Wednesday, concluding that Cambridge Analytica had broken no laws, either involving data misuse or collusion with alleged Russian influence efforts, with its activities during the Brexit campaign.

Indeed, the commission found no evidence the company had actively engaged with the vote at all.

The report also concluded that the data-miner’s vaunted psychological micro-targeting capabilities, based on an Orwellian database supposedly containing “5,000+ data points per individual,” appeared to be “an exaggeration” for marketing purposes. Most of the company’s tactics employed “well-recognized processes using commonly available technology,” it continued.


The ICO analyzed 42 computers, 700 terabytes of data, 31 servers, and over 300,000 documents in the course of the three-year probe. While they essentially came up empty-handed, commissioner Elizabeth Denham warned of “systemic vulnerabilities in our democratic systems” in a letter to MPs.

While acknowledging that investigating alleged Russian election interference was outside the scope of the investigation, Denham stated that the commission had not turned up “any additional evidence” Russia meddled with the Brexit vote in the course of digging through Cambridge Analytica’s data. No evidence of successful Russian interference in the UK referendum has yet been found elsewhere, either, as a long-delayed report on the subject finally released in July admitted.

While the Vote Leave campaign worked with AggregateIQ, a Canadian data-mining company with connections to Cambridge Analytica, and the British firm crafted a proposal for UKIP early on which was never used, that seems to be the extent of the firm’s “guilt.”

However, thanks to its role in the 2016 US presidential contest, it has become a stand-in for fear of tech-enabled election-meddling, and it’s unlikely the ICO report will clear its name.

Founder Alexander Nix was disqualified earlier this week from acting as a director of or participating in the formation or management of any UK company for seven years on charges that Cambridge Analytica and parent company SCL Elections Ltd marketed themselves as “offering potentially unethical services to prospective clients” such as bribery and “honey trap” stings, voter disengagement campaigns, opposition research, and anonymous rumor-spreading.

Cambridge Analytica, SCL, and several sister companies shut down in 2018 after whistleblower Christopher Wylie came forward with information that blew their data-mining operations wide open.

The company was found to have slurped up sensitive data on 87 million mostly-American Facebook users via a third-party quiz app just 200,000 people actually downloaded, then used that information to target political advertisements on behalf of the Trump campaign.

While Facebook struggled to dodge responsibility for allowing Cambridge Analytica to make off with such a massive information hoard, the tech giant was ultimately hit with a $5 billion fine – the largest ever meted out by the US Federal Trade Commission – over its failure to safeguard user data.

The ICO also fined Facebook £500,000 ($647,035) for allegedly meddling with the Brexit vote, an act Facebook challenged by arguing that the UK watchdog had no proof that British users’ data had been weaponized in political targeting at all. While they finally settled last year without admitting liability, the social media behemoth appears to have been vindicated by the new ICO report.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Apple to Pay Google About One Billion Dollars Annually for Gemini AI to Power Next-Generation Siri
UK Signals Major Shift as Nuclear Arms Race Looms
BBC’s « Celebrity Traitors UK » Finale Breaks Records with 11.1 Million Viewers
UK Spy Case Collapse Highlights Implications for UK-Taiwan Strategic Alignment
On the Road to the Oscars? Meghan Markle to Star in a New Film
A Vote Worth a Trillion Dollars: Elon Musk’s Defining Day
AI Researchers Claim Human-Level General Intelligence Is Already Here
President Donald Trump Challenges Nigeria with Military Options Over Alleged Christian Killings
Nancy Pelosi Finally Announces She Will Not Seek Re-Election, Signalling End of Long Congressional Career
UK Pre-Budget Blues and Rate-Cut Concerns Pile Pressure on Pound
ITV Warns of Nine-Per-Cent Drop in Q4 Advertising Revenue Amid Budget Uncertainty
National Grid Posts Slightly Stronger-Than-Expected Half-Year Profit as Regulatory Investments Drive Growth
UK Business Lobby Urges Reeves to Break Tax Pledges and Build Fiscal Headroom
UK to Launch Consultation on Stablecoin Regulation on November 10
UK Savers Rush to Withdraw Pension Cash Ahead of Budget Amid Tax-Change Fears
Massive Spoilers Emerge from MAFS UK 2025: Couple Swaps, Dating App Leaks and Reunion Bombshells
Kurdish-led Crime Network Operates UK Mini-Marts to Exploit Migrants and Sell Illicit Goods
UK Income Tax Hike Could Trigger £1 Billion Cut to Scotland’s Budget, Warns Finance Secretary
Tommy Robinson Acquitted of Terror-related Charge After Phone PIN Dispute
Boris Johnson Condemns Western Support for Hamas at Jewish Community Conference
HII Welcomes UK’s Westley Group to Strengthen AUKUS Submarine Supply Chain
Tragedy in Serbia: Coach Mladen Žižović Collapses During Match and Dies at 44
Diplo Says He Dated Katy Perry — and Justin Trudeau
Dick Cheney, Former U.S. Vice President, Dies at 84
Trump Calls Title Removal of Andrew ‘Tragic Situation’ Amid Royal Fallout
UK Bonds Rally as Chancellor Reeves Briefs Markets Ahead of November Budget
UK Report Backs Generational Smoking Ban Ahead of Tobacco & Vapes Bill Review
UK’s Domino’s Pizza Group Reports Modest Like-for-Like Sales Growth in Q3
UK Supplies Additional Storm Shadow Missiles to Ukraine as Trump Alleges Russian Underground Nuclear Tests
High-Profile Broodmare Puca Sells for Five Million Dollars at Fasig-Tipton ‘Night of the Stars’
Wilt Chamberlain’s One-of-a-Kind ‘Searcher 1’ Supercar Heads to Auction
Erling Haaland’s Remarkable Run: 13 Premier League Goals in 10 Matches and Eyes on History
UK Labour Peer Warns of Emerging ‘Constituency for Hating Jews’ in Britain
UK Home Secretary Admits Loss of Border Control, Warns Public Trust at Risk
President Trump Expresses Sympathy for UK Royal Family After Title Stripping of Prince Andrew
Former Prince Andrew to Lose His Last Military Title as King Charles Moves to End His Public Role
King Charles Relocates Andrew to Sandringham Estate and Strips Titles Amid Epstein Fallout
Two Arrested After Mass Stabbing on UK Train Leaves Ten Hospitalised
Glamour UK Says ‘Stay Mad Jo x’ After Really Big Rowling Backlash
Former Prince Prince Andrew Faces Possible U.S. Congressional Appearance Over Jeffrey Epstein Inquiry
UK Faces £20 Billion Productivity Shortfall as Brexit’s Impact Deepens
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Eyes New Council-Tax Bands for High-Value Homes
UK Braces for Major Storm with Snow, Heavy Rain and Winds as High as 769 Miles Wide
U.S. Secures Key Southeast Asia Agreements to Reshape Rare Earth Supply Chains
US and China Agree One-Year Trade Truce After Trump-Xi Talks
BYD Profit Falls 33 % as Chinese EV Maker Doubles Down on Overseas Markets
US Philanthropists Shift Hundreds of Millions to UK to Evade Regulatory Uncertainty in Trump Era
Israeli Energy Minister Delays $35 Billion Gas Export Agreement with Egypt
King Charles Strips Prince Andrew of Titles and Royal Residence
Trump–Putin Budapest Summit Cancelled After Moscow Memo Raises Conditions for Ukraine Talks
×