British data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica is at the centre of a controversy in India, the United States and Britain after two newspapers reported on Sunday that the company harvested personal data about Facebook users beginning in 2014. How does that matter, what does it entail and should you be worried? All these answers and more, explained right here.
Alexandr Kogan, the Cambridge University researcher who developed the app used by Cambridge Analytica, claimed he has been made a scapegoat.
Aleksandr Kogan, who created tools for Cambridge Analytica that allowed the political consultancy to psychologically profile and target voters, bought the data from the microblogging website in 2015, before the recent scandal came to light.
It is alleged that Cambridge Analytica received data from Global Science Research which employed 'illegal means' of personal data harvesting of Indians using Facebook, they said.
The company denies any wrongdoing, but says that the negative media coverage has left it with no clients and mounting legal fees which has forced it to resort to closure.
Facebook had collected certificates from both the firms in 2016-17 that data collected by them using "thisisyourdigitallife" was accounted for and destroyed.
Christopher Wylie deposed before the House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee amid an escalating row around alleged Facebook data breaches linked with the controversial UK-based company, which has also been linked with alleged attempts to influence elections in India.
The notice came after reports that political parties had used the data analytics firm during elections.
Facebook chief said he is getting to the bottom of exactly what the UK firm did, and telling everyone who may have been affected.
In a multi-pronged attack on the government, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and Surjewala alleged that it was managing headlines to deflect attention from issues such as the death of 39 Indians in captivity in Iraq.
It had earlier questioned both the companies on the impact of the data breach, following which Facebook had admitted that nearly 5.62 lakh people in India were "potentially affected" by the incident.
In a post on Twitter on Wednesday, the 28-year-old also named the Janata Dal-United as a client during the 2010 Bihar elections and brought up some caste surveys carried out in Uttar Pradesh by SCL India -- the parent company of CA.
With a confident new generation of innovators, India now has the scale and self-belief to shape its own digital destiny marked by creation, observes Ajay Kumar chairman, UPSC.
WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton is asking everyone to delete Facebook.
Prasad said the probe by the CBI will determine whether Cambridge Analytica violated the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Indian Penal Code.
The minister also cautioned the social media giant and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg of repercussions under the IT Act in case of any data breach came to light.
The Facebook chief said his top priority has always been his social mission of connecting people, building community and bringing the world closer together.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that it will take years for Facebook to fix the problem.
The ministry has raised five questions in all including whether the personal data of Indian voters and users has been compromised by Cambridge Analytica or any other downstream entity in any manner.
FB gave these companies access to information of users and even their friends.
'We have a responsibility to protect your information. If we can't, we don't deserve it'
The social media giant's CEO announced that it will change how it shares data with third-party apps.
'We must all commit to sharing less nonsense and quarrelling less on social media.' 'We could use that time instead to meeting and speaking to our friends and family instead of 'liking' their posts.' 'Zuckerberg will be the poorer for that, but our lives will be so much richer,' says Rahul Jacob.
'Losers who cannot influence people even in their own party keep cribbing that the entire world is controlled by the BJP and RSS'
This comes after immense pressure on Zuckerberg from lawmakers, the media and the public after the Facebook founder last week apologised for data breach and said the platform had made "mistakes".
The fears arise from Facebook's handling of user data and potential privacy violations, more specifically the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
The updated election ads policy for India will require advertisers to provide a 'pre-certificate' issued by the EC or anyone authorised by the poll panel, for each ad. Further, Google will verify the identity of advertisers before their election ads run on its platforms, reports Peerzada Abrar.
Gandhi also accused the media of "burying" the story.
The social media giant had been under scanner lately for the growing online data-privacy concerns.
Facebook has set up a task force that will have security specialists and content specialists, among others, who will try to understand all the possible forms of election-related abuse in the country.
Senior counsel, Diwedi submitted that technology is advancing and we have limitations of understanding the technological developments.
Personal details of about 533 million Facebook users globally, including 6.1 million from India, were allegedly leaked online and posted for free on hacking forums, according to a cybersecurity executive. The leaked details allegedly include names, phone numbers and other details of users of Facebook, a social media giant that had 2.80 billion monthly active users (MUAs) as of December 31, 2020.
The parliamentary committee on IT has recently been in the news for asking global representatives of Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram to present their views on misuse of social media platforms and its impact on citizens.
Several of WhatsApp's early features were designed keeping Indian conditions in mind, given the choppy connectivity and existence of devices of different makes. In fact, India was the first country where WhatsApp rolled out in-app video calling services in 2016, ahead of its global launch, underlining the importance of the market for the company.
Mark Zuckerberg said one of his greatest regrets was that Facebook has been slow in identifying the Russian information operations in 2016.
According to a study, abstaining from Facebook activity makes your stress hormone drop.
'The thing we fondly call FB has come a long way from the cute baby dimples it had in 2006.' 'Today the dimples are long gone and FB looms over us as Mr Hyde, designing the news we see with algorithms that determine what we might want to see; allowing companies to empty our pockets as we hug it good morning and to lobotomise us as we sleep,' says Mitali Saran.
'Political parties can play up different ideological aspects to fit individual voters.' 'For example, a party may present itself as business-friendly to one individual while it could target another voter by harping on communal fears.'
He said his official FB page had been 'hacked and blocked' in 2018 but that there has been no response from the police on a complaint filed by him on the matter so far.
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