India has set a March 31 deadline for London-based political consultancy
Cambridge Analytica to respond to a query on whether it was engaged to improperly harvest Facebook data on Indian citizens, the information technology ministry said.
The notice to the firm followed local media reports that Indian political parties had used the data analytics firm during elections.
India is preparing for a general election in 2019 and several states will elect new assemblies later in the year and 2019.
“The fairness of Indian democracy and electoral process is a matter of pride and any attempt to influence the sanctity of the electoral franchise through dubious and questionable means is unacceptable,” the ministry said in a statement.
Attempts by Reuters to seek comment from the firm, via social media, went unanswered.
The ministry raised six questions in its notice, from whether the firm had engaged in profiling based on the data collected, to how the data was used and if consent had been secured from the concerned individuals.
The government was deeply concerned with allegations that data could have been used to influence people’s behavior, the ministry said.
The ministry has threatened to take legal action against companies and individuals engaging in any unauthorised use of such data.
The London offices of Cambridge Analytica were searched by officers from Britain’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
A group of 18 people, some in ICO jackets, were seen approaching the offices at 2000 GMT on Friday following a woman holding what seemed like a warrant, Britain’s Press Association reported.
A judge at London’s High Court had granted the search warrant less than an hour earlier.
Cambridge Analytica came under scrutiny when a whistle-blower who helped set up the company told The Guardian newspaper that information from about 50 million Facebook users was taken without their consent and used in work the firm did for U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign.
The firm is is accused of illegally obtaining information from Facebook users after misleadingly gaining access under the guise of an app.
Both Cambridge Analytica and Facebook say they did not commit any crime. (Reuters/NAN)
