Facebook data scandal: Amid UK probe, Cambridge Analytica audit put on hold

A digital forensic firm enlisted by Facebook Inc. to investigate Cambridge Analytica has put its audit on hold, pending a separate probe by the UK government.
Facebook had said earlier that it enlisted the firm Stroz Friedberg to assess advertising-data provider Cambridge Analytica, whose handling of Facebook user data has embroiled the social networking company in controversy.

“At the request of the UK Information Commissioner’s Office, which has announced it is pursuing a warrant to conduct its own on-site investigation, the Stroz Friedberg auditors stood down,” Facebook said Monday.
At issue is information on millions of Facebook users that Cambridge Analytica obtained from a researcher who shared the data without Facebook’s permission. According to published news reports, Cambridge University researcher Aleksandr Kogan created a personality-analysis app that was used by 270,000 Facebook users, who in turn gave the app permission to access data on themselves and their friends, ultimately exposing a network of 50 million.