CBI to probe misuse of data by Cambridge Analytica
New Delhi, July 26: The Centre has asked the CBI to probe the alleged misuse of data of India's Facebook users by British political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica, Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
In a significant move ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Prasad said the probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) will determine whether Cambridge Analytica violated the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Indian Penal Code(IPC).
The data mining and analysis firm earlier faced allegations it used personal information harvested from 87 million Facebook accounts to help Donald Trump win the 2016 US presidential election.
As members in the Upper House expressed concern over social media platforms being used to spread rumours and fake news, Prasad also said the government has asked them to provide technological solutions so that verified fake news and provocative messages can be filtered.
Cambridge Analytica (CA) is at the centre of a storm in the country over alleged breach of Facebook user data seeking information about its
Cambridge Analytica is at the centre of a storm in the country over alleged breach of Facebook user data seeking information about its clients in India and whether it had harvested their user profiles.
clients in India and whether it had harvested their user profiles. The controversy had triggered a war of words between the BJP and the Congress.
Prasad while responding to the concerns by members during a calling attention notice on the misuse of social media and propagation of fake news causing unrest and violence referred to the reported breach at Facebook where the data of a large number of users were allegedly compromised by Cambridge Analytica.
He said notices were immediately issued to the two companies and their response sought.
“Facebook responded that they will streamline their internal processes regarding handling of personal data. They stated that the case of Cambridge Analytica was a case of breach of trust. They promised to take various other steps to ensure that such breaches do not recur,” Prasad said.
However, he said, Cambridge Analytica gave an initial response that data of Indians was not breached but this was not in conformity with what was reported by Facebook.
Cambridge Analytica also did not respond to a subsequent notice.
“The Government has entrusted this issue to be investigated by the CBI for possible violation of Information Technology Act, 2000 and IPC,” Prasad said, adding it is suspected that Cambridge Analytica may have been involved in illegally obtaining data of Indians which could be misused.
He said there were also reports that user data was “illegally accessed by hardware manufacturers who had tie-ups with Facebook. In regard to this issue, Facebook has reported that they are not aware of any misuse of information, including Indian users’ information.”
Prasad also said that the Centre will strengthen the legal framework to ensure that social media and instant messaging service providers do not deprive the Indian users of the right to hold proceedings in India.