Notice issued to Facebook over data leak of any Indian citizen

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued a letter on Wednesday to the social networking site Facebook seeking information regarding data leak of any Indian citizen.

The ministry asked a range of queries to Facebook regarding a possible leak of information about any Indian voter who is also a user of the Zuckerberg-owned site.

It also asked if any related agencies of the Facebook indulged in activities that manipulated data of the Indian users to influence the Indian electoral process.

Earlier on March 23, the MEIT issued a notice to the data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica with respect to the media reports informing about the questionable practices attributed to CA in their efforts to influence the Indian elections.

On Wednesday, whistleblower Christopher Wylie said Cambridge Analytica "worked extensively'" in India.

He listed his projects including 2010 General Elections and 2012 Uttar Pradesh elections and 2010 state elections.

He also claimed that Cambridge Analytica had its offices in India as well.

According to media reports, Wylie had earlier alleged that political consultancy Cambridge Analytica used data harvested from more than 50 million Facebook users to help US President Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign.

Wylie had worked with the CA between 2014 and 2015.