EU, UK lawmakers asks Facebook's chief to clarify data breach

BBC reported that Britain's information watchdog is seeking to apply to court for a warrant to search the offices of the London-based Cambridge Analytica.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has expressed her concern over the allegations that Cambridge Analytica exploited data on millions of Facebook users without their authorization in election campaigns, her spokesman said.

However, the firm denied all wrongdoings and insisted it followed the correct procedures in obtaining and using data.

The company has suspended its CEO Alexander Nix "with immediate effect, pending a full, independent investigation".

"Mr. Nix's recent comments secretly recorded by Channel 4 and other allegations do not represent the values or operations of the firm and his suspension reflects the seriousness with which we view this violation," Cambridge Analytica said in its latest statement.

Alexander Nix was filmed by an undercover reporter with Channel 4 News and he appeared to suggest tactics his company could use to discredit politicians online.

"We did all the research. We did all the data. We did all the analytics. We did all the targetting. We ran all the digital campaign and our data informed their strategy," Nix was filmed and told the undercover reporter during a meeting in a London hotel.

In its previous statement, Cambridge Analytica said it "strongly denies" the claims recently made by the New York Times, the Guardian and Channel 4 News.

"In 2014 we received Facebook data and derivatives of Facebook data from another company, GSR, that we engaged in good faith to legally supply data for research," the statement said.

The company added after it subsequently became known that GSR had broken its contract with Cambridge Analytica because it had not adhered to data protection regulation, Cambridge Analytica deleted all the Facebook data and derivatives, in cooperation with Facebook.

"This Facebook data was not used by Cambridge Analytica as part of the services it provided to the Donald Trump presidential campaign ... We did not work on the Brexit referendum in the UK," it added.

Facebook said on Friday it has suspended Cambridge Analytica from Facebook "given the public prominence of this organization".

Bloomberg reported on Monday that the US Federal Trade Commission is investigating Facebook over the use of that personal data.

Facebook said Tuesday it faced questions from FTC about the data acquired by Cambridge Analytica and the FTC said it had no indication of a formal investigation.

Facebook Deputy Chief Privacy Officer Rob Sherman said that the company remained committed to protecting people's information.

Facebook shares tumbled as much as 5 percent Tuesday, following a 6.7-percent plunge on Monday.