Govt notice to Facebook over data leak

New Delhi: India on Wednesday issued a notice to social media giant Facebook seeking to know whether personal data of Indian voters and users was compromised by UK-based data mining firm Cambridge Analytica.

The notice issued by the ministry of electronics and IT asked Facebook if Indian users data was compromised by Cambridge Analytica “or any other downstream entity in any manner, and if so, how was it compromised?” The notice to Facebook has sought to know “whether Facebook or its related or downstream agencies utilising social media company’s data have previously been engaged by any entities to manipulate the Indian electoral process.” The company has been asked if any such downstream entity misused data from Facebook and what is the protection available to the data subject?

Facebook has been asked to give its response by April 7.

The notice comes at a time when main political parties in India BJP and Congress have been accusing each other of engaging the services of controversial Cambridge Analytica to influence electoral process in the country.

Last week India  had issued a notice to Cambridge Analytica seeking to know whether it had used data allegedly stolen from Facebook to influence elections in India. IT ministry said that it was felt that there is need for further information about the data breach from Facebook. “What are the specific steps proposed to be taken by Facebook to prevent any misuse of personal data for potential interference in, or manipulation of the Indian electoral process?,” asked the notice sent to Facebook on Wednesday.

India has pointed out to the company that Facebook today has its largest footprint in India in terms of its user base “and therefore what proactive measures are being taken to ensure the safety, security and privacy of such large user data and to prevent its misuse by any third party?”

Facebook has come under increasing pressure in Europe and the U.S after revelations that political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, which worked with Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, harvested data from about 50 million Facebook users as it built an election-consulting company that boasted it could sway voters in contests all over the world.