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Cambridge Analytica announces it is shutting down

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(RNN) – Cambridge Analytica is shutting down, the company announced on Wednesday.

The UK-based company issued a release saying it had “filed applications to commence insolvency proceedings.”

Cambridge Analytica is a data-mining and political consulting company that did work for President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign.

It came under fire over accusations it improperly harvested Facebook user data, a scandal that has also dogged the social media giant.

The company maintains it did nothing wrong, and in its release said it was “the subject of numerous unfounded accusations.”

“Despite the company’s best efforts to correct the record, (it) has been vilified for activities that are not only legal, but also widely accepted as a standard component of online advertising in both the political and commercial arenas,” the release said.

Despite Cambridge Analytica's belief in its innocence, it said a "siege of media coverage has driven away virtually all of the company’s customers and suppliers."

"As a result, it has been determined that it is no longer viable to continue operating the business," it said. 

The company is now going into administration, effectively the British equivalent to bankruptcy.

Cambridge Analytica's former CEO, Alexander Nix, had left the company last month when he was caught on video in an undercover sting, by UK public broadcaster Channel 4, boasting of the company's ties to the 2016 Trump campaign.

Another video showed him discussing underhanded ways of manipulating political candidates, including bribery and sex workers.

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