Name clients and source of data, Centre tells Cambridge Analytica
Source: The Sangai Express

New Delhi, March 24 2018: Cracking the whip on alleged misuse of user data on Facebook, the Government on Friday issued a notice to UK-based Cambridge Analytica, asking it to give a list of clients and the source of data it had collected.

The notice came after reports that political parties had used the data analytics firm during elections.

The IT Ministry has asked Cambridge Analytica � the firm at the centre of Facebook data breach scandal � to respond by March 31 on six questions, including how the company had collected user data, whether consent was taken from the individuals, and how the data was used.

The move assumes significance as the BJP, earlier this week, had questioned links between the Congress and Cambridge Analytica, the data mining firm accused of harvesting personal information from Facebook illegally to influence polls in several countries.

Taking a stern view of reports on the misuse of user data obtained from social media platform Facebook, the IT Ministry in a statement on Friday said that "breach of privacy cannot be tolerated" .

"The Government is deeply concerned about such developments and is committed to ensuring the protection of the fundamental right of privacy and safety and security of data for every citizen of India," the Ministry said.

The IT Ministry said it had issued a notice to Cambridge Analytica "wherein the serious breach of propriety and misuse of data intended to profile and influence voting behaviour has been highlighted" .

The notice comes just days after Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad warned Facebook of action for any attempt to influence polls through data theft.

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