Data Breach: Government combs through Facebook, Cambridge Analytica's responses

NEW DELHI: The government is “examining” the response of Facebook and British data firm Cambridge Analytica (CA) to its notice on the data-breach issue, a top official at the Ministry of Electronics and IT said on Tuesday.

The government is also keeping a close watch on how global developments are unfolding on this matter, the official said.

Facebook in its response to the government said “a total of 5,62,455 people in India” were potentially affected by the unauthorised sharing of data with Cambridge Analytica.


In its response, the British company said it has not used any personal data of Indian users mined by its researcher Aleksandr Kogan from Facebook. Cambridge Analytica also said it had done surveys in India and followed proper guidelines and procedures and that it didn’t have data of Indians (illegally obtained through Facebook).

“The responses are being examined in the context of global developments,” said the official, who did not want to be named.

Fact-checking on fake news
Meanwhile, Facebook has partnered with BOOM, an independent fact-checking initiative, for a pilot in Karnataka to check “false news” shared on its platform. The tie-up comes even as the state is set to hold assembly polls on May 12.

In a blog, Facebook said the programme in India aims “to fight the spread of false news on our platform”. BOOM will review English language news stories flagged on Facebook, check facts, and rate their accuracy, it said. Facebook is running similar initiatives in France, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Mexico, Indonesia, the Philippines and the US.

Facebook has admitted that globally, data on about 87 million people may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica with almost 80% of users being in the US.

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg has since been summoned for congressional hearings by the US government where he had to face a barrage of tough questions.

In India, the allegations that Cambridge Analytica and its Indian affiliate Ovleno Business Intelligence were hired by political parties to profile voters using their Facebook data with an aim to influence the outcome of elections had led to both the BJP and the Congress trading charges against each other.