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Centre issues notice to Facebook over ‘data breach’ of Indian voters

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has sought the details by April 7 concerning the alleged theft of personal information of Indian voters by Cambridge Analytica.

Centre issues notice to Facebook over ‘data breach’ of Indian voters

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The Central government issued a notice to Facebook on Wednesday seeking clarification over an alleged data leakage of Indian voters.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has sought the details by April 7 concerning the alleged theft of personal information of Indian voters by Cambridge Analytica.

As per TOI news report, in the letter, the ministry has asked, “Whether personal data of Indian voters and users has been compromised by CA?”
“Whether Facebook or its related or downstream agencies utilizing Facebook’s data have previously been engaged by any entities to manipulate the Indian electoral process?”

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The action comes a day after the whistleblower, Christopher Wylie, revealed that his former employers worked with the Congress party in India on some regional projects.

The data leak has stirred up a major controversy in India. A day after disclosing that the Congress was a client of Cambridge Analytica, whistleblower Christopher Wylie on Wednesday exposed more details in connection with the data firm’s activities in India.

Cambridge Analytica is accused of gathering the details of 50 million users through Facebook. The data sold to Cambridge Analytica by Facebook was used to influence the 2016 US presidential elections.

In a tweet, Wylie, who is a former Cambridge Analytica employee, added three documents and wrote, “Yes SCL/CA works in India and has offices there. This is what modern colonialism looks like.”

In the latest revelation, Wylie has named Janata Dal (United) as one of the clients of the Cambridge Analytica.

Wylie added that the Strategic Communication Laboratories (SCL), Cambridge Analytica’s parent firm, has a database of seven lakh villages in 600 districts of India which is constantly updated. He further claimed that the company has been conducting caste census and campaigning for political parties in India since 2003.

On 27 March, Wylie had alleged that the company had worked extensively in India and believed it was employed by the Congress party.

“They (Cambridge Analytica) worked extensively in India. They have an office in India. I believe their client was Congress, but I know that they have done all kinds of projects. I don’t remember a national project but I know regionally. India’s so big that one state can be as big as Britain. But they do have offices there, they do have staff there,” the 28-year-old had said.

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