In sensation revelation in data breach case, Cambridge Analytica whistle-blower on Tuesday named Congress as 'client in India'.
In sensational revelation in data breach case, Cambridge Analytica whistle-blower on Tuesday named Congress as 'client in India'.
Deposing before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee of the British Parliament, Cambridge Analytica expert Christopher Wylie said that ‘I believe their (CA’s) client was Congress, but I know that they’ve done all kinds of projects both regionally…I don’t remember a national project, I know regionally.’
It was Labour MP Paul Farrelly, member of the parliamentary committee, who asked Wylie, "When you look at Facebook's biggest market, India is the top in terms of numbers of users. Obviously, that's a country which is rife with political discord and opportunities for destabilisation,"
‘I mean India is so big, one state could be as big as Britain. But they do have offices there, they do have staff there. I believe I have some documentation on India which I can also provide to the committee,’ Wylie reponded to the British Lawmaker.
He offered to provide the committee "documentation" on India, which was welcomed by Farrelly, who said India was a country that did not need any added "tensions".
During his evidence, Wylie also said that his predecessor, Dan Muresan, Head of Elections at SCL Group, had also been working in India before he died in Kenya under mysterious circumstances.
eacting to the development, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad took to Twitter and said, ‘Cambridge Analytica whistle-blower Christopher Wylie has accepted before British Parliamentary committee that Cambridge Analytica worked for the Congress Party. This vindicates what we have been saying from day one. Rahul Gandhi has been trying to divert attention all these while.’
‘Cambridge Analytica is in the dock for data theft and trying to manipulate voters using unlawful means. It has been established that Congress was a client of Cambridge Analytica. Congress Party needs to apologise to the nation for data theft and trying to manipulate voters,’ Prasad said in another tweet.
‘Rahul Gandhi needs to apologise to the nation for trying to subvert India’s election process using the Brahmastra of Cambridge Analytica. The nation demands an answer!,’ he said.
Last week, the government had issued notice to Cambridge Analytica, the firm at the centre of Facebook users' data breach, seeking its response by March 31 on whether it was involved in misuse of data to profile Indians and influence their voting behaviour.
The notice also sought the company's response on the entities which engaged Cambridge Analytica, the method used by it for possession of data and whether consent was taken from users.
"The Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India, has 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 IT ministry said in a statement.
The IT Ministry in its notice sought immediate response on these six questions:
1. Whether they have been engaged in any assignment to utilize data of Indians from the above cited breach?
2. Who are the entities that have engaged them for the above?
3. How did they come to be in possession of such data?
4. Was consent taken from the individuals?
5. How was such data collected used?
6. Was there any profiling done on the basis of such data?
"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. There have also been imputations that such data could also have been used to influence the behaviour of individuals," the IT ministry statement said.
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