Whether or not BJP-Congress used Cambridge Analytica’s services, India has reasons to worry
EC needs to take steps to ensure voter data is not made vulnerable to unscrupulous agencies.
The Cambridge Analytica row reverberated in the Indian political scenario on Wednesday, with both Congress and BJP accusing each other of taking the help of the tainted firm to win elections in an unethical manner.
It began with IT and law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad telling Parliament: “My question to Congress party is whether to win elections, Congress will depend on data manipulation and theft of data?”
The allegations
Prasad said media reports had claimed that the Congress had roped in the firm to manage its 2019 election campaign, and it was being touted as the party’s “brahmastra” (supreme weapon). He said the firm has been accused of using “sex, sleaze and fake news” to influence voters and asked if the Congress wanted to walk the same path.
“The Congress must explain if it has engaged in data trade with Cambridge Analytica,” law minister said, asking if the firm had a role to play in boosting Rahul Gandhi’s social media profile.
However, the Congress came back with a strong rebuttal, accusing Prasad of lying. “It is a fake agenda and white lie being dished out,” party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said. “The BJP’s factory of fake news has produced one more fake product today. It appears fake statements, fake press conferences and fake agendas have become an everyday character of the BJP and its ‘lawless’ law minister Ravi Shankar,” he added.
Congress’ social media head Divya Spandana, too, said: “I have never engaged with these people, have never met anyone from Cambridge Analytica. We have never hired any external agency, our social media team is run in-house.”
Surjewala further claimed that BJP-JD(U) had used Cambridge Analytica’s services in 2010. “Cambridge Analytica’s linked website shows that in 2010 its services were used by BJP-JD(U). Firm’s Indian partner Ovlene Business Intelligence (OBI) is being run by BJP ally’s MP’s son. OBI company’s services were used by Rajnath Singh in 2009,” he added.
However, rebel Congress leader Shehzad Poonawalla said the Congress had indeed been in touch with the firm, and was now attempting "whitewashing".
There is concrete proof that Amrish Tyagi of Oveleno was in touch with Rahul Gandhi and team. There was nothing till now, but today when Law Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad has raised the point, some kind of white washing is being attempted: Shehzaad Poonawala pic.twitter.com/DWHoa5nlM8
— ANI (@ANI) March 21, 2018
What we know so far
The CEO of Oveleno Business Intelligence (OBI) Private Limited, Cambridge Analytica (CA)’s India partner, is Amrish Tyagi, the son of JD(U) leader KC Tyagi.
While Cambridge Analytica (CA) was officially formed in 2013, the Bihar elections had seen the involvement of Tyagi and his OBI, the CA’s India partner. The company’s India section cites its role in the Bihar polls.
“CA was contracted to undertake an in-depth electorate analysis for the Bihar Assembly Election in 2010. The core challenge was to identify the floating/swing voters for each of the parties and to measure their levels electoral apathy, a result of the poor and unchanging condition of the state after 15 years of incumbent rule,” it says.
The LinkedIn page of the director of CA’s Indian arm says that they "managed 4 elections successfully for BJP”.
The website also mentions the Congress as a client.
Here are screenshots of LinkedIn page of Director of Cambridge Analytica's Indian arm, saying "managed 4 elections successfully for BJP", "helped achieve mission 272." @BJP4India: response please? pic.twitter.com/NaxNJJdzzb
— Sreenivasan Jain (@SreenivasanJain) March 21, 2018
Screenshot from website from Cambride Analyitca's Indian arm shows BJP, Congress and JD(U) as clients. So why are parties in denial, or blaming each other for CA links? Watch @ndtv for more. pic.twitter.com/uoQeWETyuz
— Sreenivasan Jain (@SreenivasanJain) March 21, 2018
Tyagi has worked with the BJP in Uttar Pradesh in 2012, when Nitin Gadkari was party president. Hindustan Times has quoted him as saying: “Through OBI, I have worked with individual candidates, including in the UP assembly elections of 2017. But Cambridge has not yet done any political project here.”
A Moneycontrol report on March 19 had mentioned that the CA was "in talks with a large opposition party in India for the upcoming general elections in 2019," and had even made a presentation to the party in August. However, the report did not identify the party.
The implications
While both Congress and BJP have denied any links with CA, there is still a lot to be alarmed about. What the CA has been accused of doing is mining Facebook users’ personal data to build their profiles, so political parties can customise their wooing strategies based on the particular voters’ leanings and susceptibilities. The Scroll mentions Christopher Wylie, a former data scientist at CA and the whistleblower in the case, as saying: “We would not only be targeting you as a voter, we would be targeting you as a personality.”
India's political parties thus may be using underhand means – your fears, biases, prejudices – to manipulate your choice, instead of their performance and promises. The way this was made possible was through a personality quiz, the kind a lot of us frequently use on Facebook, and click on “I Agree”, without really reading all the information the quiz asks for access to.
India lacks adequate data privacy laws to nail the guilty. Also, the Election Commission needs to come up with measures to ensure that voter data is not made vulnerable to unscrupulous agencies.
The government has launched an aggressive push for a “digital India”. Laws and safeguards need to play catch up, and soon.