Facebook data theft case: CBI books Cambridge Analytica

The central probe agency has alleged that Cambridge Analytica received data from Global Science Research, which employed "illegal means" of personal data harvesting of Indians using Facebook.

The Central Bureau of India has filed a case against UK-based Cambridge Analytica and Global Science Research Limited for illegal harvesting of personal data from Facebook users in India.

According to reports, Facebook has allegedly told the CBI that they allowed GSRL to collect data for academic and research purposes whereas GSRL collected illegal data, including contents of private messages, of 5.62 lakh users.

The CBI case says GSRL shared this data with Cambridge Analytica which in turn used it to influence elections.

The CBI had, in September 2018, initiated a preliminary enquiry against Cambridge Analytica and Facebook over the allegations levelled by whistleblower Christopher Wylie about the mining of user data to manipulate elections. Wylie had tweeted details that claimed to expose the British consultancy's work in India dating back to 2003.

The agency's initial probe had revealed that GSRL Founder Dr Alexander Kogan had created an app "thisisyourdigitallife" that had been authorised by Facebook to collect specific user data for academic and research purposes. 

Kogan's app, however, also illegally collected additional data like demographic information, pages liked, and contents on private chats, without the knowledge or consent of the app users.