Data leak is an attack on privacy

The allegation of Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad against Congress that it is going to take the help of the tainted Consultancy firm named Cambridge Analytica in terms of data to win elections in 2019 sounds ridiculous. Cambridge Analytica has also alleged to have helped US President Donald Trump win the elections by influencing the voters in his party's favour through the personal data manipulation of the people. It is alleged that it has already influenced election from the US to Syria. Cambridge Analytica has reportedly taken data from FaceBook. Leaking data to Cambridge analytica as alleged to have been done by Facebook is nothing but make it public. It is an attack on the privacy of the people in India in connivance with the FB. FB has the largest number of users in India. It may be possible that after going into the profile of the people on FaceBook, Cambridge Analytica may have known about their interest, taste and political choices and after that, it may have tried to influence them by repeatedly showing their likening. It is an attempt to subvert democracy by the political parties in India only to win elections. It must stop forthwith. But the list of Analytica clients which has appeared in different newspapers clearly shows that BJP, JD(U) and Congress were among its clients. It has also been alleged that BJP had asked Cambridge Analytica to work for it to achieve the majority mark of 272 members in Lok Sabha in 2014 elections. Congress has also alleged that JD (U) had taken help from this tainted organization to win Bihar Assembly elections in 2010. Congress also alleged that BJP had engaged Cambridge Analytica to win elections while BJP alleges that Congress does this. The allegation and counter-allegation make no meaning. The allegation of the senior BJP leader and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also lacks credibility in view of his own party’s record. His allegation against Congress is based on newspaper reports and he has failed to corroborate his evidence with solid proof. So, it lacks credibility. Taking help from the foreign data company to subvert democracy by any political party is not only a serious crime but also an anti-national act. This must be investigated thoroughly. FaceBook must also be asked to protect the data of all Indians. Otherwise, the Govt. of the day would not hesitate in taking action against it. The millions of innocent facebook users remain oblivious to the fact their data is used to benefit the political party in the time of elections. It is nothing but an act of subverting democracy. Election Commission also must act against the outsiders who try to exert their influence on the electoral process in the country. The fallout of the Facebook data leak expose and its misuse by an election consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica in the 2016 US Presidential elections allegedly in the favour of Donald Trump has reached Indian shores. The day saw the BJP accuse the Congress of having ties with Cambridge Analytica while the Congress did its own finger pointing back at the BJP. Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg has rightly been put on notice by the govt. if the personal data of over 200 million Indian Facebook users has been similarly misused.