India wants Cambridge Analytica to clarify if it misused data to influence elections

The government issued a notice to the political consulting and data mining firm on Friday, seeking its response by March 31, about its possible involvement in profiling Indian voters and influencing them.

The ministry of electronics and information technology sent the notice to the company highlighting “serious breach of propriety and misuse of data intended to profile and influence vehicle behaviour.”

The government asked the company whether it had done any profiling-based on data in India. “The Government is deeply concerned about such developments and is committed to ensure the protection of the fundamental right of privacy and safety and security of data for every citizen of India,” said the letter. “There have also been imputations that such data could also have been used to influence the behaviour of individuals.”

IT and law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had earlier warned social media outfits such as Facebook of strong action if it tried to influence the electoral process next year (See: Government will not tolerate Facebook interfering in 2019 elections: Ravi Shankar Prasad)

Prasad had also accused the Congress of deploying the company for elections including the Gujarat polls. 

Rahul Gandhi, the Congress chief alleged that the minister had spun fake news about the party. He tweeted: “Problem: 39 Indians dead; Government on the mat, caught lying. Solution: Invent story on Congress and Data Theft. Result: Media networks bite bait; 39 Indians vanish from radar. Problem solved.”