British regulators on Saturday began searching the london offices of Cambridge Analytica (CA), the scandal-hit communications firm at the heart of the Facebook data scandal, shortly after a judge approved a search warrant.
Around 18 enforcement agents from the office of Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham entered the company’s london headquarters at around 1:30 am IST to execute the warrant.
The High Court granted the raid request less than an hour earlier, as Denham investigates claims that Cambridge Analytica may have illegally harvested Facebook data for political ends.
A full explanation of the legal ruling by Judge Anthony James leonard will be issued on Tuesday, according to the court.
“We’re pleased with the decision of the judge,” Denham’s office said on Twitter.
“This is just one part of a larger investigation into the use of personal data and analytics for political purposes,” it added in a statement. “As you will expect, we will now need to collect, assess and consider the evidence before coming to any conclusions.”
The data watchdog’s probe comes amid whistleblower accusations that CA, hired by Donald Trump during his primary campaign, illegally mined tens of millions of users’ Facebook data and then used it to target potential voters.
Fresh allegations also emerged Friday night about the firm’s involvement in the 2016 Brexit referendum campaign.
Brittany Kaiser, CA’s business development director until two weeks ago, revealed it conducted data research for leave.EU, one of the leading campaign groups, via the UK Independence Party (UKIP), according to The Guardian.