Congress Was Client, Says Cambridge Analytica Whistleblower In Testimony

The India link also came up when one person in the hearing referred to Wylie's earlier testimony about his Romanian predecessor, who worked in India and was found dead in Kenya in 2012 "with bits of his skull missing".

All India | Edited by | Updated: March 27, 2018 20:20 IST
Congress Was Client, Says Cambridge Analytica Whistleblower In Testimony

Cambridge Analytica's Christopher Wylie exposed how they harvested data from millions of Facebook users

New Delhi:  Christopher Wylie, the whistleblower at the heart of the Facebook data breach scandal, has named the Congress as one of the clients of disgraced research firm Cambridge Analytica, accused of accessing user data illegally for political campaigns.

As he testified in London before UK lawmakers on Tuesday, he was asked by a questioner to "focus on the world's biggest democracy", with "lots and lots" of elections.

"I believe their client was Congress. But I know that they have done all kind of projects. I don't remember any national project, but regionally... India is so big that one state can be the size. They do have offices there, staff there. I believe I have some documentation on India which I can provide if you're interested," Christopher Wylie said an hour into his testimony.

The India link also came up when one person in the hearing referred to Wylie's earlier testimony about his Romanian predecessor, who worked in India and was found dead in Kenya in 2012 "with bits of his skull missing".

"According to reports from India, apparently he was really paid for by an Indian billionaire who actually wanted the Congress to lose. So he was pretending to work for one party but really...paid underhand by others," Paul Olivier, a data protection specialist who led investigations against the tech giant, said, suggesting collaboration between Romanian, Kenyan and Indian journalists in the investigation.

Soon after the testimony details emerged, the ruling BJP said Congress president Rahul Gandhi had been exposed should apologise. "They have lied. They must apologise to the nation," said Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who had earlier warned Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg that he could summon him.

Last week, reports said information from more than 50 million Facebook users improperly ended up in the hands of data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica and was misused for political campaigns.

The Congress and the BJP have traded charges after it emerged that the scandal could have links to elections in India.

The website of the Indian affiliate of Cambridge Analytica, Ovleno Business Intelligence (OBI), mentions the BJP, Congress and the Janata Dal (United) of Nitish Kumar as clients. Cambridge Analytica's website says the company provided its services during the Bihar election in 2010 to a political party in India.

Ravi Shankar Prasad has accused the Congress of using Cambridge Analytica in last year's Gujarat election. 

The minister says it is obvious by the way the Congress evaded allegations and stayed silent when there were three news reports on the opposition parties.  "This company is known for aggressive, fake, news, below standard campaign. Do I need to record before you the language of Rahul Gandhi, Gabbar Singh Tax and the whole social media campaign? Therefore the footprint of the DNA of this company was evident in Gujarat," Mr Prasad told reporters.

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The minister has also alleged that the Congress planned to use Cambridge Analytica for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and boost its president Rahul Gandhi's profile.

The Congress has emphatically denied the charge. Its spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said last week: "The BJP's factory of fake news has produced one more fake product today."