A month after the CBI launched a preliminary inquiry against Cambridge Analytica, the agency wrote to Facebook, Cambridge Analytica and Global Science Research seeking details regarding alleged theft of user data of Facebook users in India, reported the Indian Express. The CBI is probing whether Cambridge Analytica received data from Global Science Research and if the data was harvested or misused. "Further investigations will take place after we receive a reply." a CBI official told the Indian Express. Cambridge Analytica's influence in India In April, Facebook revealed data belonging to over 562,455 Indian Facebook users may have been improperly accessed by British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. In a reply to a Lok Sabha question (pdf) in August, Minister of Electronics and IT, RS Prasad said that in a second notice, Facebook informed the government that Cambridge Analytica had violated Facebook’s policy. “Cambridge Analytica have not responded to the second notice. Since the reply given by Cambridge Analytica was not adequately convincing, and that there was divergence in the replies given by Facebook & Cambridge Analytica, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been asked to investigate this matter with regard to possible misuse by Cambridge Analytica.” said the minister. The Indian government has served notices to both Cambridge Analytica and Facebook after the social media giant revealed that Indians may have been exposed to the breach. Facebook has been served three notices by the centre as of now, and the last one sought an explanation over reports of the company’s data sharing partnerships with phone manufacturers. Read: Cambridge…
