Congress poster at Cambridge Analytica office leaves party red faced

NEW DELHI: After Congress president Rahul Gandhi s mocking tweet about the Narendra Modi app allegedly sharing customers data with the PM s friends in American companies the BJP s Amit Malviya tweeted in a comparable vein nowadays approximately records from customers of the Congress net web page being shared with the birthday celebration s pals in Singapore . The tweet Malviya responded to these days became the Congress president s from Sunday: Hi! My call is Narendra Modi. I am India s Prime Minister. When you join up for my reliable App I give all of your information to my pals in American corporations. Rahul became regarding a French cybersecurity researcher s current allegation that the Narendra Modi app stocks registered users information with a US-based totally behavioural analytics organization. Malviya replied - in near same language - with a screenshot of unexplained numbers and IP addresses. Hi! My call is Rahul Gandhi. I am the President of India s oldest political birthday celebration. When you sign on for our officia https://t.Co/Gcx25g9j2t Amit Malviya (@malviyamit) 1522032184000 In next tweets he mentioned bits from the Congress net web page s privacy policy. The bit Malviya highlighted from the Congress birthday celebration s privacy policy whilst the usage of its website says: For making the use of Website effective and innovative Indian National Congress may share your facts with providers consultants and different service providers or volunteers who're engaged by way of or working with us and who want get right of entry to to such information to perform their work for us; with candidates groups organizations or causes that we believe have comparable political viewpoints principles or targets . The remaining portion of that paragraph no longer highlighted approximately the Congress s privateness coverage says: ...Whilst you deliver us your consent to achieve this such as if we notify you on the Website that the records you offer can be shared in a particular way and also you offer such statistics; whilst we accept as true with in suitable religion that we're required to accomplish that by regulation court order as requested via other government or regulation enforcement authority... Malviya stated that implications are grave approximately the part of the Congress s privateness policy approximately sharing users data with applicants businesses agencies or reasons that we believe have similar political viewpoints standards or goals . Full marks to @INCIndia for stating upfront that they ll deliver your records to almost all of us - undisclosed ven https://t.Co/xxeTkj2x2M Amit Malviya (@malviyamit) 1522032192000 The BJP chief said people with viewpoints similar to the Congress ought to mean Maoists stone pelters Bharat Ke Tukde Gang Chinese embassy to globally renowned orgs like Cambridge Analytica the field is significant and wide open. When Congress says they'll share your statistics with like-minded agencies the results are grave. From Maoists sto https://t.Co/q99tl3lA1D Amit Malviya (@malviyamit) 1522032198000 Malviya alternatively alleged the Congress has hyperlinks with disgraced records analytics firm Cambridge https://www.namestation.com/u/shawshawksha-wat Analytica which illegally mined 50 million US users records without their permission. All of you who complained about the surge in anti-BJP and anti-authorities messages and pretend information in recent days on https://t.Co/iIaMipQRsd Amit Malviya (@malviyamit) 1521639824000 About the NaMo app the BJP stated the day before today that app customers facts become simplest being used for analytics . Contrary to Rahul s lies truth is that statistics is being used for most effective analytics using 1/3 celebration provider much like Google Analytics. Analytics at the user records is achieved for presenting customers the most contextual content material. On Friday nighttime #DeleteNaMoApp changed into among the pinnacle Twitter trends nationally with Congress members putting their weight behind the hashtag. Read this story in Marathi Written by using Amit Malviya might India s predominant opposition party spend a lot time and energy in attacking not the prime minister however his app? India s virtual area has been witness to fireworks associated with cell apps facts protection and privacy over the previous couple of days. It started out with the Cambridge Analytica divulge where the grimy electioneering tricks of this agency were exposed thru a sting. However in India as the firm changed into widely suggested to have been engaged by using the Congress the BJP clearly questioned them approximately their deal. The Congress then again has focused on attacking the BJP at the NaMo app. Why might India s major opposition celebration spend so much time and energy in attacking no longer the top minister however his app? If it's far at the centre of a lot interest the app have to virtually be doing some thing vital. Narendra Modi is credited for efficiently leveraging social media to reach out to people throughout the us of a. But what he is doing with the NaMo app is some thing particular. He has built a effective platform which could deliver any social media a run for its money. The app gives a means for tens of millions of his enthusiasts and birthday celebration cadre to connect without delay with the PM. Users can create their personal profiles earn factors and win unique awards for their interest. They can also connect with MPs and MLAs in their constituency. The app acts a work-drift control platform for lakhs of celebration employees. Even a booth worker can hook up with the birthday party president and the PM via the New India Connect section. Read get right of entry to: Camera audio amongst 22 inputs The app has enabled numerous course-breaking engagements. There is an Exam Warriors module in which students from throughout the u . S . A . Are forming a network and additionally writing to the PM. For the Swachh Bharat marketing campaign human beings shared pics of their cleanliness sports. During the Gujarat elections PM Modi had a stay video interplay with Mahila Morcha people via the app. When a frontrunner has risen to such stage of meaningful interplay it's miles most effective natural for the Opposition to feel insecure. Accusations had been flying some bordering on the mindless. Rahul Gandhi tweeted that the NaMo app secretly facts audio video contacts of your pals and family and even tracks your place through GPS . The absurdity of this claim specially approximately the secret audio video recording part makes one wonder what the Congress is so fearful of. Does Rahul Gandhi virtually no longer recognize generation or is he simply tweeting ridiculous theories to take the warmth far from the Congress? Anyone who makes use of a phone knows that cellular apps request various permissions relating to digicam microphone and so on. Do most of these apps hire this for snooping? In the NaMo app you can actually browse as a guest while not having to submit any information. Of route now not all sections and capabilities will be to be had which need to be apparent considering a few sports want you to log in. But there may be sufficient fee you'll extract out of the utility as a guest. For instance if you needed to comment on a few article you will want to log in and offer information in most packages now not just the NaMo app. If you need a personalized birthday desire from Modi you need to enter your date of start information. It is plain that most cellular packages ask for access to some records and NaMo app is not any exception. To tailor their content material to your tastes they'll ask your pursuits. Some made claims that the NaMo app sends statistics to the USA. This is patently false. The app genuinely employs 0.33-celebration offerings similar to Google Analytics for analytics. All apps rent such offerings. Does that mean they ship statistics to someone? No. Analytics and processing user information are accomplished to provide customers the maximum contextual customised content. To enhance a stink over such analytics and ask humans to delete NaMo app due to the fact Modi is snooping on you is fun technological illiteracy if no longer deliberate worry-mongering on the a part of Rahul Gandhi. The irony is that he's fantastically young and the popular notion is that the younger human beings are extra informed about technological subjects. If one desires to sincerely fear approximately something it's miles the privacy policy of the Congress website which possibly also applies to their mobile application. On who the Congress may additionally percentage your facts with here is what it says (emphasis mine): For making the usage of Website effective and imaginitive Indian National Congress may percentage your records with providers experts and different carrier providers or volunteers who're engaged through or operating with us and who want get right of entry to to such data to perform their work for us; with candidates groups corporations or reasons that we believe have comparable political viewpoints standards or objectives. In essence the wording here is so vague that the Congress can possibly share your statistics with all and sundry and claim that they fall within one of these companies. For instance they could percentage your records with Lalu Prasad s birthday celebration due to the fact they trust they have comparable political concepts. Entertainingly although after developing plenty hullabaloo approximately getting human beings to delete the NaMo app thru the fashion #DeleteNamoapp the Congress ended up taking down its own cell application and club webpage because they discovered themselves indulging in the very identical matters or worse. From this turn of activities there's a severe message. Rahul Gandhi and his team ought to realize that technological literacy privateness focus and statistics protection are critical issues. Making nonsensical accusations and politicising them only trivialises the debate. The creator is BJP s countrywide convenor Information and Technology For all the modern-day Opinion News download Indian Express App Tags: Narendra Modi Share your thoughts NEW DELHI: The Indian National Congress (INC) professional cell app With INC appears to have disappeared from the Google Play Store after anonymous hacker who goes by using the moniker Elliot Alderson on Monday alleged that the app turned into sending users non-public facts to Singapore. However the Congress celebration s social media head tweeted announcing the birthday celebration app has been defunct for some time now . The URL for club on the INC (Indian National Congress) app has been defunct for some time now. Our club is thru the INC website. How difficult is that to understand tweeted the Congress birthday celebration s social media head Divya Spandana. Forget sharing we don t gather any statistics thru the App. What a dimwit @malviyamit https://t.Co/geq5YdlpQY Divya Spandana/Ramya (@divyaspandana) 1522042652000 On the app being deleted by the Congress Alderson (you may examine extra about him in our interview) speakme to ToI said I think they got scared after my first tweet announcing that I will check out their app. The vigilante hacker on Sunday had placed out a message on micro-running a blog web site Twitter pronouncing he's going to publish exciting information about the Congress mobile app he s discovered on Monday. I determined something interesting on the With INC #android app details can be posted day after today Elliot Alderson (@fs0c131y) 1522000708000 On Monday Alderson alleged that after a user signs up for the Congress app her/ his personal records which is not encrypted is http://doodleordie.com/profile/rangastalams routed to the app s servers https://www.viki.com/users/bharatraamz/about in Singapore. Read additionally: Rahul BJP alternate allegations approximately statistics sharing Monday s improvement comes within the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modi s app -- the NaMo app-- strolling into trouble for asking its users for a strings of permissions inclusive of camera snap shots region contacts and microphone. Read this story in BengaliRead this tale in Tamil Interestingly it was Alderson who had pointed out on Saturday that the NaMo app turned into sharing person facts with a third birthday celebration inside the US with out the customers consent. When you create a profile in the official @narendramodi #Android app all your tool data (OS community kind Carri https://t.Co/x2gcO0O6C7 Elliot Alderson (@fs0c131y) 1521833645000 Read also: Parties apps need get right of entry to to customers key facts On Sunday the hacker alleged that the NaMo app had quietly updated its privateness settings. After the NaMo #android app exposé the day gone by the privacy coverage of @narendramodi has been change quietly. The cach https://t.Co/FaoMG0bYhK Elliot Alderson (@fs0c131y) 1521971961000 Congress President Rahul Gandhi had earlier in the day urged customers to delete the NaMo app. Read this tale in Marathi I m taking this as a project. There isn't any mystery on Android and if it's miles actual it could be proved https://t.Co/qCdhNluDcE Elliot Alderson (@fs0c131y) 1522047725000 In a sparkling twist to the Facebook records leak controversy that has Congress and BJP lock horns since the past week Cambridge Analytica director and whistle-blower inside the case Christopher Wylie has stated that Congress party had employed the arguable company for positive nearby initiatives . File photograph of Christopher Wylie. Reuters Wylie became deposing in front of the House of Commons Digital Culture Media and Sport Committee of the British Parliament while he named the Congress celebration saying he believes they employed the company for a few nearby elections in India. When you have a look at Facebook s biggest market India is the pinnacle in terms of numbers of users. Obviously that s a rustic that's rife with political discord and opportunities for destabilisation stated Labour MP Paul Farrelly member of the parliamentary committee throughout his thinking. They (Cambridge Analytica) labored significantly in India. They have an office in India Wylie replied. I trust their client became Congress but I recognize that they have got completed all styles of tasks. I don t bear in mind a countrywide task however I understand domestically. India s so large that one state may be as massive as Britain. But they do have offices there they do have personnel there the 28-year-vintage brought on being probed further. He offered to provide the committee documentation on India which was welcomed by way of Farrelly who said India become a rustic that did no longer need any delivered tensions . However it wasn t clean at the time whether or not Wylie intended that Congress became Cambridge Analytica s most effective customer in India or if different parties and individuals have also hired the arguable information-mining firm. During his proof Wylie additionally said that his predecessor Dan Muresan Head of Elections at SCL Group had also been operating in India before he died in Kenya under mysterious situations. He claimed to have heard memories that Muresan a Romanian national may additionally were poisoned in a inn room whilst in the African usa. Paul-Olivier Dehaye co-founding father of PersonalData.IO a carrier that enables people regain manipulate over their non-public information also giving evidence to the committee introduced that he had heard reviews that Muresan become being paid by using an Indian billionaire who wanted Congress to lose elections. So he changed into pretending to paintings for one celebration however certainly paid underhand with the aid of someone else said Dehaye. He introduced that it would be for Indian and Kenyan journalists to get collectively to investigate the problem further. Wylie has accused his former enterprise Cambridge Analytica of amassing the info of 50 million users on Facebook via a character quiz in 2014. He alleges that because 270 000 people took the quiz the records of a few 50 million customers in particular inside the US changed into harvested without their express consent via their friend networks. Wylie claims the data become sold to Cambridge Analytica which then used it to psychologically profile people and deliver material in favour of Donald Trump throughout the 2016 US presidential elections. He additionally criticised Cambridge Analytica for going for walks campaigns in struggling democracies which he known as an instance of what modern-day colonialism looks like . You have a wealthy enterprise from a developed state going into an economic system or democracy that s nonetheless suffering to get its toes on the floor and taking benefit of that to take advantage of that he instructed MPs. Cambridge Analytica denies any of the facts received turned into used as a part of the offerings it supplied to the Trump campaign. Meanwhile the BJP became brief to latch on to the revelations and said that Wylie s declaration has uncovered Rahul Gandhi. The whistle-blower has publicly confirmed that the Congress was indeed their purchaser. Rahul Gandhi were trying to divert attention. Today he stands exposed. The Congress and Rahul Gandhi have to apologise to the state Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad instructed journalists on Tuesday night. This vindicates what the BJP had been been pronouncing from day one he said. Cambridge Analytica is inside the dock for records theft and looking to manipulate voters the use of unlawful manner. Congress birthday party needs to apologise to the kingdom for statistics theft and seeking to manage electorate. Rahul Gandhi desires to apologise to the nation for trying to subvert India s election method using the Brahmastra of Cambridge Analytica he said. Prasad also dismissed the Congress allegation that the BJP had used the company s offerings calling it a percent of lies . The warmness of the controversy first reached India on 21 March when Prasad held a presser to accuse Congress of using the London-based firm. He stated media reviews to mention that the Congress birthday celebration was in talks with the company to influence the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Will Congress party depend on statistics manipulation and theft to win votes? Mr. Rahul Gandhi must give an explanation for the role of Cambridge Analytica in his social media profile he had requested. According to reports Cambridge Analytica s CEO Alexander Nix were in talks with numerous Opposition parties in India to design an electoral strategy for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in the approaching Lok Sabha Elections. Another document claimed that the corporation changed into in talks with both Congress in addition to BJP via its India companion Oveleno Business Intelligence Private Limited. Interestingly OBI s CEO is Amitesh Tyagi son of Janata Dal (United) chief KC Tyagi who has formerly labored with man or woman candidates in the Uttar Pradesh elections in 2017 and with JD(U)-BJP to control sales space-stage demographic facts. Tyagi s agency but denies its involvement in any social media paintings yet. Both BJP and JD(U) have also denied the expenses. The Congress celebration has meanwhile denied all such fees vehemently and counter-attacked via pointing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi s app NaMo app which it said had leaked consumer facts to a US firm. Hi! My call is Narendra Modi. I am India s Prime Minister. When you sign up for my official App I give all your records to my friends in American businesses. Ps. Thanks mainstream media you re doing a first-rate activity of burying this important tale as continually.Https://t.Co/IZYzkuH1ZH Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 25 2018 Earlier Elliot Alderson a French vigilante hacker had alleged that non-public data together with e mail IDs photos gender and names of the customers of Modi s mobile app were being despatched to a 3rd birthday celebration area with out their consent. When you create a profile in the legitimate @narendramodi #Android app all of your device data (OS network kind Carrier ) and personal records (e-mail photograph gender call ) are ship with out your consent to a 3rd-birthday party domain called https://t.Co/N3zA3QeNZO. Percent.Twitter.Com/Vey3OP6hcf Elliot Alderson (@fs0c131y) March 23 2018 In an undercover record closing week Cambridge Analytica executives had been stuck boasting that they in conjunction with discern agency Strategic Communications Laboratories had worked in extra than two hundred elections around the arena along with India Nigeria Kenya the Czech Republic and Argentina. The recordings had been made all through a chain of conferences at London accommodations among November 2017 and January 2018. With inputs from businesses MADURAI: Every day 63-year-old Arockia Gnanaolivu reaches Puthuyuga Valibar Threga Payirchi Salai (new age fitness center) in Madurai s Palanganatham region sharp at 6am. He choices up a heavy shovel and starts digging a dirt pit at the campus. For him it's miles just a heat up earlier than the kusthi (wrestling) exercise. Gnanaolivu is one the various final of a league of wrestlers who're suffering to preserve the sport alive within the metropolis these days. His kusthi ground that is more than 70 years antique is the remaining surviving wrestling college in Madurai which had extra than 12 such faculties between 1940 and 1980. These wrestling faculties had been also a part of the political actions the ones days while the Communist Party of India and the Indian National Congress were the major parties. The wrestling faculty helped me to nurture the Community birthday party on this region stated 92-yr-antique wrestler and hard-core celebration guy Palani who's additionally the grasp of Gnanaolivu. Those days humans searching out paintings required bodily health as Madurai was regarded for its textile turbines and wrestling every morning became an appealing way for the kids to tone their our bodies. Almost all parties along with the newly-shaped DMK had wrestling colleges. The education yielded results while there were political clashes explained Solomon sixty two a wrestling master. Not simply political fights muscle strength changed into additionally put to apply in positive paintings. My boys the ones days have been strong and we dug channels to convey consuming water to the locality. We have additionally laid roads and executed all types of public works. Physical nicely-being changed into an asset a device for public provider Palani says. The wrestling schools used the maximum unconventional end result-yielding techniques to hone talents of younger wrestlers digging the wrestling pit climbing a nearby hillock swimming the breadth of the village tank and mountain climbing timber are a few to name. The getting ready of the wrestling arena is also really worth a point out - first-rate soil is blended with neemcake powder and sparkling neem and eucalyptus leaves making it surprisingly medicinal. Unlike earlier days youngsters nowadays be a part of the faculty for bodybuilding functions. With only some opting for wrestling the sport on the school is restricted to elderly wrestlers like Gnanaolivu. Keeping in thoughts the waning call for for wrestling the faculty s agree with upgraded it into a fitness center in 1990. Youth generally come right here to teach for police selection and navy entrances. Wrestling at the college is taught most effective on demand if everybody expresses hobby says Palani. Eighty-3 yr vintage A Ramu gingerly joins Palani while requested to illustrate their prowess inside the area. It was a variety of fun the ones days and it is sad that Kusthi has disappeared from the face of Madurai. With us the final of wrestlers will disappear he rues. Palani says the interest in wrestling dwindled among the teens with the growing craze for bodybuilding. More than education wrestlers we put together teenagers inside the locality for defence and police forces. At least six to 10 boys who train right here clean the tests he says. Solomon feels the craze closer to martial arts like Karate or Judo also took away a piece in their students. The job requirement now's more of brain electricity than muscle electricity. The political scenario has additionally changed. The muscle strength that become used for public welfare transformed into rowdyism discouraging many kids towards wrestling he stated. Mumbai: The figure corporation of the controversial records mining operation Cambridge Analytica may also have worked on Indian political campaigns for years in keeping with documents released Wednesday elevating issues by the authorities and others in India that facts approximately voters might also had been misused.Christopher Wylie a whistleblower who uncovered Cambridge Analytica s position in a records breach affecting 50 million Facebook customers in advance this month tweeted files that recommended the firm s figure organisation Strategic Communications Limited (SCL) performed behavioral studies and polling for as a minimum six state elections in India between 2003 and 2012 together with the 2009 countrywide election. It isn't clean from the files whether the information the enterprise used changed into acquired thru Facebook and whether or not the corporation misused non-public facts.In a tweet accompanying the files Wylie likened the firm s paintings in India to modern day colonialism. The flame-haired 28-12 months-antique Canadian became previously the director of research for Cambridge Analytica which became funded in component through billionaire Robert Mercer. The company a consultant to President Donald Trump s marketing campaign is accused of acquiring non-public statistics from thousands and thousands of Facebook customers and giving its clients get admission to to the information. Cambridge Analytica denies any wrongdoing.The newly released files sparked an outcry in India where the authorities officially requested both Cambridge Analytica and Facebook in the past week whether or not Indian citizens personal information have been compromised or used to have an effect on the final results of elections. The authorities asked a reply by April 7.Both the governing Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition Indian National Congress deny hiring Cambridge Analytica s Indian counterpart for election campaigns and flung accusations at their competitors rather. Cambridge Analytica is within the dock for data robbery and trying to control voters using unlawful means. It has been hooked up that Congress become a purchaser of Cambridge Analytica. Congress Party needs to apologize to the state for records theft and seeking to manipulate citizens tweeted Ravi Shankar Prasad the united states s facts era minister.Divya Spandana director of social media and digital communications for the Congress Party denied hiring Cambridge Analytica but stated she become aware of a proposal to a country leader who may additionally have met with Cambridge Analytica s group in India to manage textual content messaging and on-the-ground polling during country elections in Bihar in 2010 even though it was uncertain whether or not that work was ever finished.Cambridge Analytica s website states that it changed into contracted to work at the Bihar 2010 elections however it does no longer mention the other campaigns mentioned in Wylie s leaked files.The controversy over Facebook data is probably to keep to reverberate in India a rustic of 1.Three billion this is its largest marketplace with greater than 250 million users. The u . S . Is preserving a national election subsequent year.One of SCL s former India companions Avneesh Kumar Rai said in an interview that the files that Wylie tweeted Wednesday misrepresented SCL s sports in India. Rai who co-based SCL India in 2011 along with Cambridge Analytica s now suspended director Alexander Nix and others said that their enterprise challenge in India by no means took off and that SCL had made false claims approximately their India operations to win enterprise contracts.A war of words emerged between Rai and Nix he said over where Indians facts need to be saved. We said the server have to be hosted in India best. Nix wanted that India information ought to be hosted on his server. So it might be in their complete control he said. Alexander Nix never did any work in any election in India as far as I know. The data Rai referred to was polling records amassed thru interviews - no longer private statistics taken from Facebook money owed. Rai stated Wylie s files a part of a promotional brochure to benefit greater business display that SCL is claiming paintings that Rai and others had finished independently earlier than meeting Nix. The pair disagreed and did now not work together after 2012. Tamsin Allen an lawyer for Wylie did not immediately reply to emails asking for remark.But Nikhil Pahwa a generation expert said that signs that the corporation labored in India are stressful. India is even greater inclined than the U.S. Pahwa stated. Things had been very polarized right here. CommentsOn March 17 The New York Times and the Observer posted tales built around interviews with Wylie who defined the large breach of Facebook facts. He contends that the facts of fifty million Facebook customers was harvested and used to construct a powerful software program software to predict and influence picks at the ballot container the Observer article said.(Except for the headline this tale has now not been edited by using NDTV personnel and is published from a syndicated feed.) Written by New Delhi inside the UK House of Commons on Tuesday.(AP Photo/File) Escalating the row over alleged harvesting of Facebook profiles to influence elections a former employee of information analytics company Cambridge Analytica turned whistleblower instructed a British parliamentary panel Tuesday that he believed the Congress birthday party became a consumer of the company and he became aware that the firm with many employees and offices had labored considerably in India. In his testimony to the British Parliament s Digital Culture Media and Sports Committee Christopher Wylie on being asked about Cambridge Analytica s work in India said: I believe their customer turned into Congress. But I recognise that they have got performed all sorts of tasks. I don t do not forget a country wide assignment but I recognize locally. I mean India is so large which you realize that one state may be you understand as massive as Britain. But they do have places of work there they do have body of workers there. I believe I have some documentation on India which I also can provide to the committee if that s some thing of hobby. PTI adds from London: During his proof Wylie additionally stated that his predecessor Dan Muresan Head of Elections at SCL Group had also been running in India earlier than he died in Kenya below mysterious instances. He claimed to have heard tales that Muresan a Romanian countrywide may additionally have been poisoned in a resort room at the same time as in the African united states What Cambridge Analytica does is the norm now not an aberration Paul-Olivier Dehaye co-founding father of PersonalData.IO a carrier that helps people regain manage over their private records also giving evidence to the committee brought that he had heard reviews that Muresan became being paid with the aid of an Indian billionaire who desired Congress to lose elections. So he became pretending to paintings for one celebration however genuinely paid underhand by using a person else stated Dehaye. He brought that it'd be for Indian and Kenyan journalists to get collectively to investigate the problem further.) Read: Cambridge Analytica controversy rocks Indian politics: Who said what Wylie s feedback had the BJP and the authorities attacking the Congress. Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the Congress had lied and ought to apologise. The whistleblower has publicly showed that the Congress became certainly their client. Rahul Gandhi were looking to divert attention. Today he stands uncovered. The Congress and Rahul Gandhi should apologise to the nation Prasad informed journalists. Last week too Prasad had accused the Congress of using Cambridge Analytica Why is the Congress in love with such firms? Whether to win elections Congress will depend upon records manipulation and robbery of information? What is the position of Cambridge Analytica within the social media profile of Rahul Gandhi he had requested. But Divya Spandana who heads social media and digital communications for the Congress referred to as Wylie s statement an absolute lie . Express Explained: How records can be used to gather voters She stated the Congress had by no means engaged Cambridge Analytica neither for the 2014 general elections nor for the upcoming 2019 elections. She said she had spoken to Rahul Gandhi and the Congress had by no means used the facts analytics firm. She said Congress isn't always even attractive them for 2019 due to the fact the proposal would have come to me. And it hasn t . She also said that Gandhi had in no way met or engaged with all of us from Cambridge Analytica. The celebration has neither reached out to the company nor signed any settlement. It is feasible that they may have despatched idea Spandana said. Congress communications in-fee Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeting on the declare that an Indian billionaire may additionally have hired Cambridge Analytica to paintings against Congress sought to understand who had conspired towards the Congress . It became obvious he stated that it was Data breach: BJP Congress JD(U) on patron list of figure firm s India partner Cambridge Analytica s parent company Strategic Communication Laboratories has an Indian associate named Ovleno Business Intelligence (OBI). On its website the OBI counted BJP Congress and Janata Dal (United) among its customers it changed into taken down final week. Incidentally OBI is owned by Amrish Tyagi son of senior JD(U) leader K C Tyagi. Amrish is a director in Ghaziabad-based totally Strategic Communication Laboratories Private Limited which also has Alexander Nix as its director. Nix became Chief Executive of Cambridge Analytica whose executives were secretly recorded by means of undercover reporters of Channel four News bragging about their election-influencing methods such as bribery and honey traps in opposition to their purchaser s opponents. India changed into one of the countries that had been named. For all the contemporary India News down load Indian Express App Tags: Cambridge Analytica Rahul Gandhi Share your mind .Story-content material span .Tale-content material p .Story-content material div colour:#000!Important;font-family: open sans Arial!Essential;font-size:15px!Essential ALSO READ Cambridge Analytica scandal: How India can save democracy from Facebook Christopher Wylie names Congress as Cambridge Analytica consumer; 10 updates Cambridge Analytica: Congress denies whistleblower claim BJP seeks apology Cambridge Analytica: Cong likens Ravi Shankar Prasad to Goebbels; 10 factors span.P-content div id = div-gpt line-peak:0;font-length:zero After Chris Wylie the whistleblower within the Cambridge Analytica (CA) statistics-breach scandal stated that Congress had hired the enterprise the birthday celebration refuted the claims. However a video display clutch of Cambridge Analytica s suspended Chief Executive Officer Alexander Nix s London office shows a poster with Congress hand image. The photograph which surfaced on social media on Wednesday sincerely suggests Congress hand image with the celebration slogan Development for all . Christopher Wylie a former employee of CA had told MPs for the duration of his evidence before the United Kingdom Parliament s Digital Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee the day past that the business enterprise had labored notably in India and that he believes Congress became one in every of its customers. In a publish on Twitter today the 28-year-vintage additionally named the Janata Dal (United) as a customer at some point of the 2010 Bihar elections and taken up a few caste surveys achieved in Uttar Pradesh by SCL India the figure agency of CA. I ve been getting a whole lot of requests from Indian journalists so here are a number of SCL s past initiatives in India. To the maximum frequently requested question sure SCL/CA works in India and has places of work there. This is what contemporary colonialism looks like Wylie tweeted. His message consists of documents which suggest that SCL India boasted a database of over 600 districts and seven lakh villages that's continuously being updated . Its attain in India is said to include a head office in Ghaziabad with nine nearby offices in Ahmedabad Bangalore Cuttack Guwahati Hyderabad Indore Kolkata Patna and Pune. Here are the top developments inside the Cambridge Analytica and Indian elections row: 1. Congress hand symbol in Cambridge Analytica s office: The Persuasion Machine the remaining of the 2-part documentary collection Secrets of the Silicon Valley which was released closing year suggests journalist and technology blogger Jamie Barlett assembly Cambridge Analytica s now-suspended CEO Alexander Nix in his London workplace. The heritage of the workplace indicates the hand image of the Congress in conjunction with the birthday celebration slogan Development for all in keeping with Economic Times. The documentary had investigated the role of technology inside the election campaign of the US President Donald Trump. Barlett had met Nix to speak about Trump s election campaign. Congress hand symbol can be visible in Cambridge Analytica s London workplace 2. Cambridge Analytica employee on India undertaking may additionally had been poisoned A Romanian worker of Cambridge Analytica (CA) who worked on its task in India can also were poisoned in Kenya an ex-worker has told a British parliamentary select committee. Christopher Wylie instructed the Digital Culture Media and Sport Select Committee on Tuesday that Dan Muresan who had worked on the Indian challenge turned into suspected to have been poisoned in his Kenyan lodge room in 2012 after a deal went sour. Wylie said that CA labored efficiently in India with an office and team of workers there and I consider their (CA s) patron turned into Congress . ALSO READ: Cambridge Analytica whistleblower details India operations names JD(U) 3. Cambridge Analytica-JD(U) link: Christopher Wylie on Wednesday stated his former employer Cambridge Analytica had an Indian arm and conducted election research on behalf of some events together with the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) now a BJP ally for desired final results . Wylie said SCL Group the figure corporation of Cambridge Analytica has its office situated in Indirapuram in Ghaziabad and its local places of work in Ahmedabad Bengaluru Cuttack Guwahati Hyderabad Indore Kolkata Patna and Pune. This is what he tweeted: I ve been getting a lot of requests from Indian newshounds so right here are some of SCL s past initiatives in India. To the most frequently requested question - sure SCL/CA works in India and has offices there. This is what present day colonialism seems like. Percent.Twitter.Com/v8tOmcmy3z Christopher Wylie (@chrisinsilico) March 28 2018 He published photos of what looks as if slides of a pitch presentation of SCL India explaining its countrywide experience in the u . S .. It stated the agency has a database of over six hundred districts and seven lakh villages. But it didn t identify the source of the database or whether or not it became accumulated from any social media websites. In the 2010 Bihar elections SCL India became asked to provide electoral research and approach for the JD-U of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The whistleblower at the same time as attesting before the UK Parliament on Tuesday said Congress changed into a purchaser of the firm and that SCL/CA works in India and has workplaces there. This is what current colonialism looks like. ALSO READ: Cambridge Analytica scandal: How Mark Zuckerberg can shop Facebook - and us In 2009 trendy elections SCL India controlled the campaigns of some of Lok Sabha candidates and its studies and marketing campaign information series methodologies formed strategies to give the customers a hit campaigns. It stated the CA additionally undertook numerous different initiatives which includes Psephological studies and behavioural poling in Delhi and Chhattisgarh; electoral research and strategy for Janata Dal (United) inside the 2010 state elections; studies-primarily based campaigns to assist a trans-national programme for countering the Non-Desired Behaviour (NDB) of recruitment into and assist of violent Jihadism in Kerala West Bengal Assam Bihar Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh in 2007. He discovered the firm also labored on psephological studies and opinion pollings for a countrywide party in 2003 Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan elections. 4. JD(U) refutes allegations: The Janata Dal (United) on Wednesday rejected allegations that it had used caste analysis provided by means of Cambridge Analytica accused of facts breach announcing the celebration does no longer accept as true with in the usage of such approach for electoral politics. The celebration s reaction came after Christopher Wylie who blew the lid off the alleged rip-off concerning mining of Facebook consumer records to control elections tweeted information that declare to reveal the British consultancy s paintings in India dating again to 2003. Wylie 28 has claimed that SCL India changed into requested to provide electoral studies and strategy for the 2010 Bihar elections for the JD (U). ALSO READ: Cambridge Analytica row: Facebook comes to a decision to postpone release of home speaker But JD (U) leader K C Tyagi rejected the allegation announcing his party does no longer trust in the usage of information for electoral politics. I actually have stated this within the beyond. I repeat again that the JD (U) does now not believe in such means. We fight elections the way it have to be contested he said. Five. Congress shows BJP- Cambridge Analytica hyperlinks: Tuesday s revelations have already initiated a blame game among the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party with the BJP traumatic an apology from the grand vintage celebration and the Congress hit back by means of denying the allegations and asking Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to provoke a probe into the matter as it'd only reveal the ruling birthday celebration. At a press conference the Congress alleged hyperlinks among the BJP and Cambridge Analytica. As an evidence it shared that the previous BJP IT statistics head and modern head of MyGov internet site Arvind Gupta tweet praising Cambridge Analytica in 2017. It additionally claimed that Union minister Smriti Irani follows Cambridge Analytica on Twitter. 6. Ex-Cambridge Analytica worker names Congress as a purchaser: Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Christopher Wylie on Tuesday instructed British Parliament that his business enterprise labored in India and that he believes Congress changed into a patron. I agree with their (Cambridge Analytica) client became Congress but I recognise that they have done all styles of initiatives. I don t recollect a countrywide assignment but I recognize regionally. India s so large that one nation may be as large as Britain he said as a part of his deposition. Wylie also advised the lawmakers that Cambridge Analytica has places of work in India and employed workforce. I consider I actually have a few documentation on India which I also can provide to the committee if that s some thing of hobby. In a disposition to UK House of Commons Christopher Wylie the whistleblower in Cambridge Analytica case names Rahul Gandhi s Congress as one in every of Analytica s customers in India. Will Rahul solution what was discussed with Alexander Nix and how much information of Indians has been stolen? %.Twitter.Com/s3V81GO5zd Amit Malviya (@malviyamit) March 27 2018 ALSO READ: Cambridge Analytica scandal: How India can shop democracy from Facebook Data analytics expert and formerly an employee at Cambridge Analytica Wylie alleged that the political consultancy company used personal information harvested from greater than 50 million Facebook customers to influence elections. 7. BJP seeks apology from Rahul Gandhi: The BJP on Tuesday attacked the Congress over Chris Wylie s deposition naming the Opposition birthday party. The BJP demanded an apology from Congress President Rahul Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi has been seeking to divert interest. Today he stands uncovered. The Congress and he should apologise to the nation Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said including the Congress allegations against the BJP have been full of lies. 8. Congress dubs links with Cambridge Analytica all fake : The Congress did now not pull away from responding to the allegations in opposition to it. Its spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala pointed to the disclosure that a non-resident Indian billionaire from Gujarat turned into investment campaigns in order that the Congress may be defeated within the elections. It is all fake. Why is India s always mendacity Law Minister (Ravi Shankar Prasad) throwing https://speakerdeck.com/vundematramz allegations inside the media. He is in power. Why doesn t he show all proof after which register an FIR? We challenge you (Bharatiya Janata Party). They worry they will be exposed in the event that they probe stated party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala. द द न पहले ह Cambridge Analytica के प र्टनर श्र अवन श र य ज द्व र म न गय क CA क क ंग्रेस के ख़ ल फ़ 2014 के चुन व में इस्तेम ल क य गय क सके द्व र क य गय ? 2/https://t.Co/cX6EUzu0SK Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) March 27 2018 व देश से आये एक NRI गुजर त व्य प र के द्व र ज इस ब त के ल ए कर ड़ ं रुपये CA क दे रहे थे क क स प्रक र से क ंग्रेस के ख ल फ षड्यंत्र क य ज ये! उसके ब द भ जप क कलई खुल गय ! क ंग्रेस के ख ल फ षड्यंत्र क न करव रह थ ? स्व भ व क त र से भ रत य जनत प र्ट ! 3/ Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) March 27 2018 रव शंकर प्रस द ज यह भूल गए क House of Commons में एक स ंसद ने उस व्यक्त से खड़े ह कर यह पुछ क Cambridge Analytica क स प्रक र से क ंग्रेस के ख ल फ एक षड्यंत्र कर रह थ और एक NRI उसक पैसे दे रह थ इसके ब रे में भ क नून मंत्र अब सफ ई देने से पूर तरह से बच गए 4/ Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) March 27 2018 देश के स मने गंभ र समस्य एं है समेत Date और Data च र क भ जप ने त चुन व आय ग क Date भ च र कर ल और Data त इस देश क हर र ज़ च र ह रह है वह AADHAAR ह य NaMo App ह ! त इसल ए ध्य न मत भटक इये जव ब द ज ये क्य आपक इस देश के खुद के न गर क अवन श र य पर व श्व स नह ं?5/ Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) March 27 2018 रव शंकर प्रस द ज आप क नून मंत्र है आपक प र्ट के प्रध नमंत्र है आप क्यूँ स रे सबूत क्यूँ स रे स क्ष्य क्यूँ स रे तथ्य स र्वजन क पटल पर नह ं रख देते? क सने क सक have interaction क य क न कह ँ से क तन पैस ल य -इस स रे घ लमेल क सच देश के स मने आ ज येग 6/https://t.Co/cX6EUzu0SK Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) March 27 2018 9. Chris Wylie had no direct know-how of employer s paintings due to the fact 2014: Cambridge Analytica Cambridge Analytica (CA) that's inside the midst of the Facebook facts privateness hurricane https://www.trover.com/u/2941267049 has come to the fore and responded to the listening to of the Digital Culture Media and Sport Committee saying that whistleblower Chris Wylie had no direct expertise of the organisation s work or practices considering 2014. Chris Wylie changed into a part-time contractor who left Cambridge Analytica in July 2014 and has no direct information of the employer s work or practices due to the fact that date. He was on the company for less than a year and then he became made the problem of restraining undertakings to prevent his misuse of the enterprise s highbrow belongings even as trying to installation his own rival company. He became now not as he claims a founder of Cambridge Analytica the company stated in a assertion. ALSO READ: Cambridge Analytica has workplace team of workers in India: Whistleblower to UK panel Wylie has misrepresented himself and the enterprise to the committee and previously to the news media. He admits himself that what he says is hypothesis the statement introduced. 10. Indian billionaire paid Dan Muresan to make Congress lose elections: Wylie said that his predecessor Dan Muresan Head of Elections at SCL Group had also been operating in India earlier than he died in Kenya beneath mysterious instances. Paul-Olivier Dehaye co-founding father of PersonalData. IO a service that enables individuals regain manipulate over their personal statistics additionally giving evidence to the committee brought that he had heard reports that Muresan became being paid with the aid of an Indian billionaire who desired Congress to lose elections. ALSO READ: As govt problems ultimatun EC to formulate new Facebook code of behavior So he become pretending to paintings for one birthday celebration but certainly paid underhand through someone else stated Dehaye. He brought that it'd be for Indian and Kenyan journalists to get collectively to analyze the matter further. 11. Cambridge Analytica has info of fifty million Facebook users: Wylie has accused his former corporation Cambridge Analytica of accumulating the details of fifty million users on Facebook thru a character quiz in 2014. He alleges that due to the fact 270 000 humans took the quiz the facts of a few 50 million customers in particular in the US become harvested with out their specific consent via their pal networks. Wylie claims the facts become offered to Cambridge Analytica which then used it to psychologically profile people and supply material in favour of Donald Trump during the 2016 US presidential elections. He also criticised Cambridge Analytica for jogging campaigns in struggling democracies which he known as an example of what present day-day colonialism looks like . ALSO READ: Christopher Wylie names Congress as Cambridge Analytica client; 10 updates You have a wealthy organisation from a advanced nation going into an economic system or democracy that s still struggling to get its toes at the ground and taking advantage of that to make the most of that he instructed MPs. Cambridge Analytica denies any of the information obtained changed into used as part of the offerings it provided to the Trump marketing campaign. 12. French vigilante says NaMo app stocks its information with third-birthday party illegally: Meanwhile the Narendra Modi government is now dealing with the ire of privateness vigilantes for illegally sharing data from the professional app of the Prime Minister of India with a 3rd birthday party business enterprise in the US. A French vigilante hacker in a series of tweets alleged that the non-public statistics including email IDs images gender and names of the users of Modi s mobile app had been being despatched to a 3rd birthday celebration area with out their consent. ALSO READ: Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal: A case for statistics safety reform When you create a profile in the professional @narendramodi #Android app all of your device information (OS network type Carrier ) and personal facts (electronic mail image gender call ) are sent without your consent to a 3rd-party domain known as http://in.Wzrkt.Com the privacy vigilante who goes via the call Elliot Alderson tweeted on March 23. Alderson claimed that this domain belongs to a US-based organization referred to as CleverTap a mobile advertising solution issuer with workplaces in San Francisco New York Los Angeles Mumbai and Bengaluru. In an undercover record last week Cambridge Analytica executives were caught boasting that they in conjunction with figure enterprise Strategic Communications Laboratories had worked in more than 200 elections around the arena which include India Nigeria Kenya the Czech Republic and Argentina.