The real story of Cambridge Analytica and Brexit

In July 2018, Elizabeth Denham – the woman in charge of enforcing the UK’s laws on data protection – appeared on the Today programme, and made a stark allegation.

‘In 2014 and 2015, the Facebook platform allowed an app… that ended up harvesting 87 million profiles of users around the world that was then used by Cambridge Analytica in the 2016 presidential campaign and in the referendum,’ she told the show’s seven million listeners.

The UK’s Information Commissioner – who is in charge of enforcing data protection rules – Elizabeth Denham, said this as she announced her intention to fine Facebook £500,000 for its role in failing to protect users’ data.

She had provided an apparently pithy summary of what’s often referred to – in the UK at least – as ‘the Cambridge Analytica scandal’, or the ‘Vote Leave’ scandal has led UK newspapers and bulletins week after week, led to parliamentary investigations, the biggest ever regulatory investigation by the UK’s data watchdog, criminal inquiries, and more.