Facebook data theft: CBI books Cambridge Analytica, Global Science Research for illegal data mining

The CBI has now registered a case against the UK-based Cambridge Analytica and Global Science Research Ltd for illegally harvesting data of the India Facebook users. The central agency has alleged that Cambridge Analytica and Global Science Research Ltd have illegally harvested data of the Indian users for commercial purposes.

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has now registered a case against the UK-based Cambridge Analytica and Global Science Research Ltd for illegally harvesting data of the India Facebook users.

The central probe agency has alleged that Cambridge Analytica and Global Science Research Ltd have illegally harvested data of the Indian Facebook users for commercial purposes.

The action came after a preliminary enquiry into the matter which showed that Global Science Research had created an app "thisisyourdigitallife" which was authorised by Facebook to collect specific datasets of its users for research and academic purposes in 2014, they said.

The company then entered into a criminal conspiracy with Cambridge Analytica, allowing it to use the data harvested by it for commercial purposes, the officials said.

Facebook had collected certificates from both the firms in 2016-17 that data collected by them using "thisisyourdigitallife" was accounted for and destroyed.

However, the CBI enquiry did not find any evidence of any such destruction, according to the officials. "The enquiry prima facie established that Global Science Research Ltd, UK dishonestly and fraudulently accessed data of app users of "thisisyourdigitallife" and their Facebook friends," an official said, citing the FIR.