After Central government issued a notice to Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, seeking clarification over an alleged leak of Indian voters’s data, the Information and Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday said “we are very tough when it comes to data protection in India”.
As per media reports, Prasad said, “Notice has gone from the Indian government to the two companies. We should wait for their reply. We will take action after their reply”.
On UK-based firm Cambridge Analytica’s efforts to influence elections by harvesting data of Facebook users, Prasad said that a UK parliamentary committee is conducting an investigation and added that he did not wish to comment on the views of one of its members.
“I will not comment on that. A parliamentary committee of Britain is doing an investigation, and one of the members in that has commented, so I should not make any comments on that. If that committee sends any report, then we can think on it,” Prasad added.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeITY) in its notice to Facebook had sought the details concerning the alleged theft of personal information of Indian voters by Cambridge Analytica by 7 April.
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?”
The letter sent to Facebook noted that it has largest footprint in India in terms of user base and sought its reply on proactive measures being taken by the company to ensure safety, security and privacy of such large user data and to prevent its misuse by any third party.
The action comes a day after the whistleblower, Christopher Wylie, revealed that his former employer worked with the Congress party in India on some regional projects.
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.