The Centre on Friday issued notice to Cambridge Analytica - the firm at the centre of Facebook users' data breach row - seeking its response on whether it was involved in misuse of data to profile Indians and influence their voting behaviour.
"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.
"Was there any profiling done on the basis of such data?" the ministry sought to know from the company. The government asked the company to submit its reply by March 31.
The government also asked the company whether it engaged other entities for this job and sought its explanation about the method used by it for possession of data and whether consent was taken from users.
"The Government is deeply concerned about such developments and is committed to ensure the protection of the fundamental rights of privacy and safety and security of data for every citizen of India," statement said.
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