The Punjab Police's Counter-Intelligence wing today said that it has arrested a youth from Mohali who allegedly learned making IEDs with 'do it yourself' kits, after Pakistan's ISI contacted him over Facebook.

According to a police spokesperson, preliminary interrogation has revealed that he was acting at the behest of his ISI handlers, who had tasked him with carrying out blasts in Punjab with explosives made from locally available chemicals, and devices bought from e-commerce websites.

The accused, Inderjit Singh alias Rinku, was an engineering graduate and has also done MBA. He was currently working with a private company in Faridabad.

"Singh, a resident of Faridabad, was nabbed on Wednesday from SAS Nagar (Mohali), and explosive materials, including chemicals and advanced electronic remote control devices, were seized from his car bearing Haryana registration number," the spokesperson said.

"By nabbing the radicalised youth, trained in making Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) with the help of Pakistan's ISI, the counter-intelligence wing of the Punjab Police has averted a major lone wolf attack in the state," he said.

During interrogation, Inderjit revealed that he was contacted by ISI officers over Facebook about two years ago and since then he had been interacting with them and learning to make explosives with 'Do It Yourself' kits, the police spokesperson said.

"Investigations indicate that Pakistani intelligence officers had chosen him because of his posts and profile on social media, and they went on to radicalise him," he said.

The spokesperson said the Pakistani intelligence officers who contacted Inderjit were also coordinating with the terror module that was busted by the state police's counter-intelligence wing on May 29 last year.

"The mastermind of that terror module, Harbarinder Singh, a resident of Mohali, was also in contact with Inderjit Singh over Facebook. After Harbarinder Singh's arrest, Inderjit was operating as a lone wolf," he said, adding Inderjit was highly radicalised and motivated to carry out terrorist activities.

"The explosive materials recovered from his possession included Digital Remote Control (multifunctional type), light remote control and various other materials including chemicals. The explosive material and the accessories were found concealed in his vehicle, which he had used for travelling from Faridabad to SAS Nagar," he said.

His arrest came close on the heels of the counter-intelligence wing arresting four youths from Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district on Monday, who were allegedly trained by the Pakistani intelligence agency and were planning to highlight the Khalistan issue during IPL matches to be held in Mohali.

A case has been registered against Inderjit Singh under the provisions of the Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act and the Explosive Substances Act, the spokesperson said, adding further investigation is underway.&nbsp

The accused, Inderjit Singh alias Rinku, was an engineering graduate and has also done MBA. He was currently working with a private company in Faridabad.

The Punjab Police's Counter-Intelligence wing today said that it has arrested a youth from Mohali who allegedly learned making IEDs with 'do it yourself' kits, after Pakistan's ISI contacted him over Facebook. According to a police spokesperson, preliminary interrogation has revealed that he was acting at the behest of his ISI handlers, who had tasked him with carrying out blasts in Punjab with explosives made from locally available chemicals, and devices bought from e-commerce websites. The accused, Inderjit Singh alias Rinku, was an engineering graduate and has also done MBA. He was currently working with a private company in Faridabad. "Singh, a resident of Faridabad, was nabbed on Wednesday from SAS Nagar (Mohali), and explosive materials, including chemicals and advanced electronic remote control devices, were seized from his car bearing Haryana registration number," the spokesperson said. "By nabbing the radicalised youth, trained in making Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) with the help of Pakistan's ISI, the counter-intelligence wing of the Punjab Police has averted a major lone wolf attack in the state," he said. During interrogation, Inderjit revealed that he was contacted by ISI officers over Facebook about two years ago and since then he had been interacting with them and learning to make explosives with 'Do It Yourself' kits, the police spokesperson said. "Investigations indicate that Pakistani intelligence officers had chosen him because of his posts and profile on social media, and they went on to radicalise him," he said. The spokesperson said the Pakistani intelligence officers who contacted Inderjit were also coordinating with the terror module that was busted by the state police's counter-intelligence wing on May 29 last year. "The mastermind of that terror module, Harbarinder Singh, a resident of Mohali, was also in contact with Inderjit Singh over Facebook. After Harbarinder Singh's arrest, Inderjit was operating as a lone wolf," he said, adding Inderjit was highly radicalised and motivated to carry out terrorist activities. "The explosive materials recovered from his possession included Digital Remote Control (multifunctional type), light remote control and various other materials including chemicals. The explosive material and the accessories were found concealed in his vehicle, which he had used for travelling from Faridabad to SAS Nagar," he said. His arrest came close on the heels of the counter-intelligence wing arresting four youths from Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district on Monday, who were allegedly trained by the Pakistani intelligence agency and were planning to highlight the Khalistan issue during IPL matches to be held in Mohali. A case has been registered against Inderjit Singh under the provisions of the Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act and the Explosive Substances Act, the spokesperson said, adding further investigation is underway.

Youth who learned making IEDs with ISI's help arrested: Punjab police

Facebook has deployed technology tools like artificial intelligence and thousands of people to work on security as the company's "major focus" this year is to protect the integrity of upcoming elections in several countries, including India, on its platform, its founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said.

Terming 2018 a "big year" for elections, Zuckerberg said Facebook was enhancing its security features to prevent trolls from spreading information.

The social media giant has been slammed over a major data breach scandal by Cambridge Analytica, a British firm linked to Donald Trump's presidential campaign.

"In the US Senate Alabama special election last year, we successfully deployed some new artificial intelligence (AI) tools that removed Macedonian trolls who were trying to spread information during the election. We now have about 15,000 people working on security and content review and we'll have more than 20,000 by the end of this year," Zuckerberg told reporters during a conference call yesterday.

"This is going to be a big year for elections ahead with the US midterms and elections in India, Brazil, Mexico, Pakistan, Hungary and others. This is going to be a major focus for us," he said.

Several Indian states like Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are scheduled to go for polls this year and the general elections are due in a little over a year from now.

A day earlier, Zuckerberg said Facebook had taken big steps by taking down Russia's Internet Research Agency (IRA) pages that were targeting the US.

"Since we became aware of their activity after the 2016 US elections, we've been working to root out the IRA and protect the integrity of elections around the world," he said.

"There have been a number of important elections that we've focused on. A few months after the 2016 elections, there was a French presidential election and leading up to that we deployed some new AI tools that took down more than 30,000 fake accounts," he said.

In German election, the company developed a new playbook for working with the local election commission on share information on threats it received, he said.

"We have more work to do here and we're going to continue working very hard to defend against them. There's the Mexican presidential election, there are big elections in India and Brazil as well as in Pakistan and Hungary and a number of other countries and the US midterms, of course," he said.

Zuckerberg pointed out three different types of activity that required different strategies for fighting.

Economic actors, who are basically spammers the second are governments trying to interfere in elections, and then the third is just polarisation and sometimes lack of truthfulness in what you've described as the media, he said.

"If we just make it so that the economics stop working for them then they'll move on to something else. I mean, these are literally the same type of people who had been sending you Viagra e-mails in the '90s. We can attack it on both sides. On the revenue side, we make it so that they can't run the Facebook ad network," he said.

The second category are the national security type issues, Zuckerberg said, adding that is the Russian election interference.

"In order to solve that, what we need to do is to identify these bad actors...What we need to do is to just track that really carefully in order to just be able to remove it from Facebook entirely," he said.

Zuckerberg alleged that some media organisations that are sanctioned news outlets in Russia when investigated closely over time, clearly come out as organisations completely owned, controlled and operated by the IRA.

"So we take them down and treat that as a security issue," he said.

Facebook has deployed technology tools like artificial intelligence and thousands of people to work on security as the company's 'major focus' this year is to protect the integrity of upcoming elections in several countries

Facebook has deployed technology tools like artificial intelligence and thousands of people to work on security as the company's "major focus" this year is to protect the integrity of upcoming elections in several countries, including India, on its platform, its founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said. Terming 2018 a "big year" for elections, Zuckerberg said Facebook was enhancing its security features to prevent trolls from spreading information. The social media giant has been slammed over a major data breach scandal by Cambridge Analytica, a British firm linked to Donald Trump's presidential campaign. "In the US Senate Alabama special election last year, we successfully deployed some new artificial intelligence (AI) tools that removed Macedonian trolls who were trying to spread information during the election. We now have about 15,000 people working on security and content review and we'll have more than 20,000 by the end of this year," Zuckerberg told reporters during a conference call yesterday. "This is going to be a big year for elections ahead with the US midterms and elections in India, Brazil, Mexico, Pakistan, Hungary and others. This is going to be a major focus for us," he said. Several Indian states like Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are scheduled to go for polls this year and the general elections are due in a little over a year from now. A day earlier, Zuckerberg said Facebook had taken big steps by taking down Russia's Internet Research Agency (IRA) pages that were targeting the US. "Since we became aware of their activity after the 2016 US elections, we've been working to root out the IRA and protect the integrity of elections around the world," he said. "There have been a number of important elections that we've focused on. A few months after the 2016 elections, there was a French presidential election and leading up to that we deployed some new AI tools that took down more than 30,000 fake accounts," he said. In German election, the company developed a new playbook for working with the local election commission on share information on threats it received, he said. "We have more work to do here and we're going to continue working very hard to defend against them. There's the Mexican presidential election, there are big elections in India and Brazil as well as in Pakistan and Hungary and a number of other countries and the US midterms, of course," he said. Zuckerberg pointed out three different types of activity that required different strategies for fighting. Economic actors, who are basically spammers the second are governments trying to interfere in elections, and then the third is just polarisation and sometimes lack of truthfulness in what you've described as the media, he said. "If we just make it so that the economics stop working for them then they'll move on to something else. I mean, these are literally the same type of people who had been sending you Viagra e-mails in the '90s. We can attack it on both sides. On the revenue side, we make it so that they can't run the Facebook ad network," he said. The second category are the national security type issues, Zuckerberg said, adding that is the Russian election interference. "In order to solve that, what we need to do is to identify these bad actors...What we need to do is to just track that really carefully in order to just be able to remove it from Facebook entirely," he said. Zuckerberg alleged that some media organisations that are sanctioned news outlets in Russia when investigated closely over time, clearly come out as organisations completely owned, controlled and operated by the IRA. "So we take them down and treat that as a security issue," he said.

Facebook's major focus polls in India, US, Pakistan: Zuckerberg

As Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg gets ready to testify before the US House committee, the social media giant revealed the personal data of up to 87 million users was "improperly shared" with British political consultancy Cambridge Analytica.

New reports in the past fortnight had said 50 million users were affected due to the breach by Cambridge Analytica which is linked to President Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. The data breach was mostly in the US, the company said.

"I'm quite confident it will not be more than 87 million, it could well be less," Zuckerberg said, while saying, "When you're building something like Facebook which is unprecedented in the world, there are things that you're going to mess up."

Meanwhile, with fingers pointed over his leadership of the social network behemoth with 2 billion users, Zuckerberg said he accepted responsibility for the failure to protect user data but asserted that he is still the best person to lead the network.

"I think life is about learning from the mistakes and figuring out how to move forward," he said.

Zuckerberg said had not fired anyone over the scandal and did not plan to. "I'm not looking to throw anyone else under the bus for mistakes that we made here," he said.

Zuckerberg who has been under pressure from all quarters will now appear before the &nbspHouse of Representatives' Energy and Commerce Committee on April 11th to speak about the causes of the data leak.

"It will be an important opportunity to shed light on critical consumer data privacy issues and help all Americans better understand what happens to their personal information online," committee chairmen Greg Walden and &nbspFrank Pallone in a statement.

<iframe allow="autoplay encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xzdOEaggGq8" width="560"></iframe>

&nbsp

Zuckerberg said had not fired anyone over the scandal and did not plan to.

As Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg gets ready to testify before the US House committee, the social media giant revealed the personal data of up to 87 million users was "improperly shared" with British political consultancy Cambridge Analytica. New reports in the past fortnight had said 50 million users were affected due to the breach by Cambridge Analytica which is linked to President Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. The data breach was mostly in the US, the company said. "I'm quite confident it will not be more than 87 million, it could well be less," Zuckerberg said, while saying, "When you're building something like Facebook which is unprecedented in the world, there are things that you're going to mess up." Meanwhile, with fingers pointed over his leadership of the social network behemoth with 2 billion users, Zuckerberg said he accepted responsibility for the failure to protect user data but asserted that he is still the best person to lead the network. "I think life is about learning from the mistakes and figuring out how to move forward," he said. Zuckerberg said had not fired anyone over the scandal and did not plan to. "I'm not looking to throw anyone else under the bus for mistakes that we made here," he said. Zuckerberg who has been under pressure from all quarters will now appear before the &nbspHouse of Representatives' Energy and Commerce Committee on April 11th to speak about the causes of the data leak. "It will be an important opportunity to shed light on critical consumer data privacy issues and help all Americans better understand what happens to their personal information online," committee chairmen Greg Walden and &nbspFrank Pallone in a statement.

87 million user data 'improperly shared' with Cambridge Analytica: Facebook

The government will wait for a response from British data mining firm Cambridge Analytica before deciding on the action to be taken in the Facebook data leak case, a source said today.

Analytica has been accused of harvesting personal information of over millions of Facebook users illegally to influence polls in several countries.

US-based social media giant Facebook had said earlier in the day that 5.62 lakh people in India were “potentially affected” by global data leak, involving Analytica.

A senior government official confirmed that the IT ministry has received Facebook’s response to its notice.

The Indian government will wait for a response of Cambridge Analytica before deciding on the action to be taken in Facebook data leak case, the source said.

Facebook has over 20 crore users in the country and the Indian government last month had shot-off notices to both Facebook and Analytica on the data breach issue.

Facebook had yesterday admitted that data on about 87 million people — mostly in the US — may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica.

The IT ministry has received Facebook's response to its notice, the government will wait for a response from Cambridge Analytica before deciding on the action to be taken, the source said.

The government will wait for a response from British data mining firm Cambridge Analytica before deciding on the action to be taken in the Facebook data leak case, a source said today. Analytica has been accused of harvesting personal information of over millions of Facebook users illegally to influence polls in several countries. US-based social media giant Facebook had said earlier in the day that 5.62 lakh people in India were “potentially affected” by global data leak, involving Analytica. A senior government official confirmed that the IT ministry has received Facebook’s response to its notice. The Indian government will wait for a response of Cambridge Analytica before deciding on the action to be taken in Facebook data leak case, the source said. Facebook has over 20 crore users in the country and the Indian government last month had shot-off notices to both Facebook and Analytica on the data breach issue. Facebook had yesterday admitted that data on about 87 million people — mostly in the US — may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica.

‘Govt to wait for Cambridge Analytica’s reply before action in Facebook data leak case’

<a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/world/youtube-headquarters-shooting-woman-attacker-wounds-3-then-kills-self-128180">YouTube headquarters shooting: Woman attacker wounds 3, then kills self</a>

A woman opened fire at YouTube's headquarters near San Francisco on Tuesday. Three people were reported wounded after which the woman shot herself.&nbsp

<a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/world/ready-to-retaliate-against-us-tariff-plan-china-128188">Ready to retaliate against US tariff plan: China</a>

In a move which could trigger an all-out trade war, China today said it will retaliate against US move to impose tariffs while condemning President Trump's measure to impose tariffs on worth $50 billion on Chinese goods.

<a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/india-news/cbse-papers-leak-school-principal-questioned-again-may-get-a-clean-chit-128185">CBSE papers leak: School principal questioned again, may get a clean chit</a>

The Delhi Police's Crime Branch questioned the principal of a school, whose two teachers were arrested for their alleged role in the leak of Class 12 economics paper, again today, after which officials said they had not found anything yet to indicate his involvement in the leak.

<a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/world/no-plans-to-extend-european-privacy-law-globally-mark-zuckerberg-128202">No plans to extend European privacy law globally: Mark Zuckerberg</a>

Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Tuesday the social network had no immediate plans to apply a strict new European Union law on data privacy in its entirety to the rest of the world, as the company reels from a scandal over its handling of personal information of millions of its users.

<a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/sports/champions-league-ronaldo-stuns-buffon-as-real-madrid-outplay-juventus-128178">Champions League: Ronaldo stuns Buffon as Real Madrid outplay Juventus</a>

Defending champions Real Madrid thrashed Juventus by 3-0 in the first leg of UEFA Champions League round of 8 at Juventus Stadium, Italy. Gianluigi Buffon was astounded by the visitors as Juve does not have the tendency to let in many goals but suffered a tragic defeat it the first leg.&nbsp

YouTube headquarters shooting: Woman attacker wounds 3, then kills self A woman opened fire at YouTube's headquarters near San Francisco on Tuesday. Three people were reported wounded after which the woman shot herself. Ready to retaliate against US tariff plan: China In a move which could trigger an all-out trade war, China today said it will retaliate against US move to impose tariffs while condemning President Trump's measure to impose tariffs on worth $50 billion on Chinese goods. CBSE papers leak: School principal questioned again, may get a clean chit The Delhi Police's Crime Branch questioned the principal of a school, whose two teachers were arrested for their alleged role in the leak of Class 12 economics paper, again today, after which officials said they had not found anything yet to indicate his involvement in the leak. No plans to extend European privacy law globally: Mark Zuckerberg Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Tuesday the social network had no immediate plans to apply a strict new European Union law on data privacy in its entirety to the rest of the world, as the company reels from a scandal over its handling of personal information of millions of its users. Champions League: Ronaldo stuns Buffon as Real Madrid outplay Juventus Defending champions Real Madrid thrashed Juventus by 3-0 in the first leg of UEFA Champions League round of 8 at Juventus Stadium, Italy. Gianluigi Buffon was astounded by the visitors as Juve does not have the tendency to let in many goals but suffered a tragic defeat it the first leg.

News brief: Big stories of the day

Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Tuesday the social network had no immediate plans to apply a strict new European Union law on data privacy in its entirety to the rest of the world, as the company reels from a scandal over its handling of personal information of millions of its users.

Zuckerberg told Reuters in a phone interview that Facebook already complies with many parts of the law ahead of its implementation in May. He said the company wanted to extend privacy guarantees worldwide in spirit, but would make exceptions, which he declined to describe.&nbsp;

"We're still nailing down details on this, but it should directionally be, in spirit, the whole thing," said Zuckerberg. He did not elaborate.&nbsp;

His comments signal that US&nbsp;Facebook users, many of them still angry over the company's admission that political consultancy Cambridge Analytica got hold of Facebook data on 50 million members, may soon find themselves in a worse position than Europeans.&nbsp;

The European law, called the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), is the biggest overhaul of online privacy since the birth of the internet, giving Europeans the right to know what data is stored on them and the right to have it deleted.&nbsp;

Apple Inc and some other tech firms have said they do plan to give people in the United States and elsewhere the same protections and rights that Europeans will gain.&nbsp;

Shares of Facebook closed up 0.5 percent on Tuesday at $156.11. They are down more than 15 percent since March 16, when the scandal broke over Cambridge Analytica.&nbsp;

Push for data privacy

Privacy advocacy groups have been urging Facebook and its Silicon Valley competitors such as Alphabet Inc's Google to apply EU data laws worldwide, largely without success.&nbsp;

"We want Facebook and Google and all the other companies to immediately adopt in the United States and worldwide any new protections that they implement in Europe," said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, an advocacy group in Washington.

Google and Facebook are the global leaders in internet ad revenue. Both based in California, they possess enormous amounts of data on billions of people.&nbsp;

Google has declined to comment on its plans.&nbsp;

Zuckerberg said many of the tools that are part of the law, such as the ability of users to delete all their data, are already available for people on Facebook.&nbsp;

"We think that this is a good opportunity to take that moment across the rest of the world," he said. "The vast majority of what is required here are things that we've already had for years across the world for everyone."&nbsp;

When GDPR takes effect on May 25, people in EU countries will gain the right to transfer their data to other social networks, for example. Facebook and its competitors will also need to be much more specific about how they plan to use people's data, and they will need to get explicit consent.&nbsp;

GDPR is likely to hurt profit at Facebook because it could reduce the value of ads if the company cannot use personal information as freely and the added expense of hiring lawyers to ensure compliance with the new law.

Failure to comply with the law carries a maximum penalty of up to 4 percent of annual revenue.&nbsp;

It should not be difficult for companies to extend EU practices and policies elsewhere because they already have systems in place, said Nicole Ozer, director of technology and civil liberties at the American Civil Liberties Union of California.&nbsp;

Companies'&nbsp;promises are less reassuring than laws, she said: "If user privacy is going to be properly protected, the law has to require it."

Zuckerberg told Reuters in a phone interview that Facebook already complies with many parts of the law ahead of its implementation in May

Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Tuesday the social network had no immediate plans to apply a strict new European Union law on data privacy in its entirety to the rest of the world, as the company reels from a scandal over its handling of personal information of millions of its users. Zuckerberg told Reuters in a phone interview that Facebook already complies with many parts of the law ahead of its implementation in May. He said the company wanted to extend privacy guarantees worldwide in spirit, but would make exceptions, which he declined to describe. "We're still nailing down details on this, but it should directionally be, in spirit, the whole thing," said Zuckerberg. He did not elaborate. His comments signal that US Facebook users, many of them still angry over the company's admission that political consultancy Cambridge Analytica got hold of Facebook data on 50 million members, may soon find themselves in a worse position than Europeans. The European law, called the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), is the biggest overhaul of online privacy since the birth of the internet, giving Europeans the right to know what data is stored on them and the right to have it deleted. Apple Inc and some other tech firms have said they do plan to give people in the United States and elsewhere the same protections and rights that Europeans will gain. Shares of Facebook closed up 0.5 percent on Tuesday at $156.11. They are down more than 15 percent since March 16, when the scandal broke over Cambridge Analytica. Push for data privacy Privacy advocacy groups have been urging Facebook and its Silicon Valley competitors such as Alphabet Inc's Google to apply EU data laws worldwide, largely without success. "We want Facebook and Google and all the other companies to immediately adopt in the United States and worldwide any new protections that they implement in Europe," said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, an advocacy group in Washington. Google and Facebook are the global leaders in internet ad revenue. Both based in California, they possess enormous amounts of data on billions of people. Google has declined to comment on its plans. Zuckerberg said many of the tools that are part of the law, such as the ability of users to delete all their data, are already available for people on Facebook. "We think that this is a good opportunity to take that moment across the rest of the world," he said. "The vast majority of what is required here are things that we've already had for years across the world for everyone." When GDPR takes effect on May 25, people in EU countries will gain the right to transfer their data to other social networks, for example. Facebook and its competitors will also need to be much more specific about how they plan to use people's data, and they will need to get explicit consent. GDPR is likely to hurt profit at Facebook because it could reduce the value of ads if the company cannot use personal information as freely and the added expense of hiring lawyers to ensure compliance with the new law. Failure to comply with the law carries a maximum penalty of up to 4 percent of annual revenue. It should not be difficult for companies to extend EU practices and policies elsewhere because they already have systems in place, said Nicole Ozer, director of technology and civil liberties at the American Civil Liberties Union of California. Companies' promises are less reassuring than laws, she said: "If user privacy is going to be properly protected, the law has to require it."

No plans to extend European privacy law globally: Mark Zuckerberg

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify before the US&nbsp;House Energy and Commerce Committee on April 11, the panel said on Wednesday.

Facebook has come under fire in recent weeks after it was revealed that the personal data of 50 million users of the website fell into the hands of a political consulting firm that worked for US&nbsp;President Donald Trump's campaign.

The statement was issued by the US House Energy and Commerce Committee

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify before the US House Energy and Commerce Committee on April 11, the panel said on Wednesday. Facebook has come under fire in recent weeks after it was revealed that the personal data of 50 million users of the website fell into the hands of a political consulting firm that worked for US President Donald Trump's campaign.

Mark Zuckerberg to testify before US House Commerce panel on April 11

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently reacted to Tim Cook's criticism saying that Cook's comments on Facebook were unfounded.&nbsp;

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Zuckerberg, in an interview on Monday, defended his company's business model and called Cook's comments "extremely glib", not "aligned with the truth".

Tim Cook's comments came in the wake of the ongoing Facebook data breach row. When asked how would he have handled the situation, Cook replied saying that he would not have been in such a situation in the first place.&nbsp;

Tim Cook further noted that a company can make a lot of money by monetising its customers, but "we have elected not to do that".

Zuckerberg took a defensive stance stating that not everyone one can afford to pay for a service that helps connect everyone in the world.&nbsp;

"Having an advertising-supported model is the only rational model that can support building this service," he told a leading American media house.&nbsp;

Cook, in a recent interview,&nbsp;pressed for more stringent regulations on social media. He questioned the practice of monetising user data by selling ads that let advertisers identify their target group of users.

Facebook, on the other hand, is an entity that thrives on selling such advertisements.

The Mark-Zuckerberg-led company has come under the scanner over user data breach of close to 50 million users.

Zuckerberg recently admitted to having "made mistakes" over the Cambridge Analytica scandal. He apologised for the "breach of trust" that had occurred between Facebook and its users.

Zuckerberg took a defensive stance stating that not everyone one can afford to pay for a service that helps connect everyone in the world

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently reacted to Tim Cook's criticism saying that Cook's comments on Facebook were unfounded. × Zuckerberg, in an interview on Monday, defended his company's business model and called Cook's comments "extremely glib", not "aligned with the truth". Tim Cook's comments came in the wake of the ongoing Facebook data breach row. When asked how would he have handled the situation, Cook replied saying that he would not have been in such a situation in the first place. Tim Cook further noted that a company can make a lot of money by monetising its customers, but "we have elected not to do that". Zuckerberg took a defensive stance stating that not everyone one can afford to pay for a service that helps connect everyone in the world. "Having an advertising-supported model is the only rational model that can support building this service," he told a leading American media house. Cook, in a recent interview, pressed for more stringent regulations on social media. He questioned the practice of monetising user data by selling ads that let advertisers identify their target group of users. Facebook, on the other hand, is an entity that thrives on selling such advertisements. The Mark-Zuckerberg-led company has come under the scanner over user data breach of close to 50 million users. Zuckerberg recently admitted to having "made mistakes" over the Cambridge Analytica scandal. He apologised for the "breach of trust" that had occurred between Facebook and its users.

We do not monetise our customers: Tim Cook criticises Facebook

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/everything-you-want-to-know-about-cambridge-analytica-36662">Cambridge Analytica</a>, the firm at the centre of Facebook users' data breach scandal, has sought one more week to respond to government's notice on whether it was involved in misuse of data to profile Indians and influence their voting behavior.

The notice had gone out to Cambridge Analytica over media reports about questionable practices attributed to the UK-based firm in its efforts to allegedly influence elections by harvesting data of Facebook users globally.

Sources privy to the development said that Cambridge Analytica has now sought an additional time of one week to send its response to the notice issued by the Indian government.

Also, the government of Nigeria is scrutinising the reports of the data mining firm Cambridge Analytica, which swiped the data of more than 50 million Facebook users to sway elections in many countries.

The affected countries include Nigeria, where Cambridge Analytica waged a campaign to perpetuate discord and hack into personal records of the then leading opposition candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s Premium Times reported.

Also read:&nbsp<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/chris-wylie-left-in-2014-has-no-direct-knowledge-of-companys-practices-cambridge-analytica-126812">Chris Wylie left in 2014, has no direct knowledge of company's practices: Cambridge Analytica</a>

Cambridge Analytica and Facebook came under fire after the British firm was accused of harvesting personal information of over 50 million Facebook users illegally to influence polls in several countries.

The IT Ministry shot off notices to both <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/india-queries-cambridge-analytica-over-alleged-facebook-data-breach-36931">Cambridge Analytica</a> and Facebook on the data breach issue, giving them time till March 31, and April 7, respectively, to respond.

The government questioned Cambridge Analytica on whether it had been "engaged in any assignment to utilise data of Indians" pertaining to the recent breach, and also the entities that had used its services. Details were also sought on the methods used by the company to acquire such data and whether consent was taken from users.

An official statement issued last month had said: "Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India, has issued a notice... To Cambridge Analytica, wherein the serious breach of propriety and misuse of data intended to profile and influence voting behaviour has been highlighted".

"Was there any profiling done on the basis of such data?," the Ministry had asked the company, following reports that political parties had used the data analytics firm during elections.

Also read:&nbsp<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/cambridge-analyticas-parent-company-involved-in-honor-killing-cases-in-india-reports-127122">Cambridge Analytica's parent company involved in 'honor killing' cases in India: Reports</a>

Meanwhile, Facebook users whose data was harvested by Cambridge Analytica could be entitled to more than £12,000 in compensation, according to reports.

Facebook could face costs of £625billion and be forced to pay £12,500 in damages to the people affected, reports quoted Dr Maureen Mapp as saying.&nbsp

Law and IT Minster Ravi Shankar Prasad has already<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/india-queries-cambridge-analytica-over-alleged-facebook-data-breach-36931"> warned the social media giant </a>of "stringent" action for any attempt to influence polls through data theft, and had even threatened to summon its CEO Mark Zuckerberg, if needed.&nbsp

The notice had gone out to Cambridge Analytica over media reports about questionable practices attributed to the UK-based firm in its efforts to allegedly influence elections by harvesting data of Facebook users globally

Cambridge Analytica, the firm at the centre of Facebook users' data breach scandal, has sought one more week to respond to government's notice on whether it was involved in misuse of data to profile Indians and influence their voting behavior. The notice had gone out to Cambridge Analytica over media reports about questionable practices attributed to the UK-based firm in its efforts to allegedly influence elections by harvesting data of Facebook users globally. Sources privy to the development said that Cambridge Analytica has now sought an additional time of one week to send its response to the notice issued by the Indian government. Also, the government of Nigeria is scrutinising the reports of the data mining firm Cambridge Analytica, which swiped the data of more than 50 million Facebook users to sway elections in many countries. The affected countries include Nigeria, where Cambridge Analytica waged a campaign to perpetuate discord and hack into personal records of the then leading opposition candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s Premium Times reported. Also read: Chris Wylie left in 2014, has no direct knowledge of company's practices: Cambridge Analytica Cambridge Analytica and Facebook came under fire after the British firm was accused of harvesting personal information of over 50 million Facebook users illegally to influence polls in several countries. The IT Ministry shot off notices to both Cambridge Analytica and Facebook on the data breach issue, giving them time till March 31, and April 7, respectively, to respond. The government questioned Cambridge Analytica on whether it had been "engaged in any assignment to utilise data of Indians" pertaining to the recent breach, and also the entities that had used its services. Details were also sought on the methods used by the company to acquire such data and whether consent was taken from users. An official statement issued last month had said: "Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India, has issued a notice... To Cambridge Analytica, wherein the serious breach of propriety and misuse of data intended to profile and influence voting behaviour has been highlighted". "Was there any profiling done on the basis of such data?," the Ministry had asked the company, following reports that political parties had used the data analytics firm during elections. Also read: Cambridge Analytica's parent company involved in 'honor killing' cases in India: Reports Meanwhile, Facebook users whose data was harvested by Cambridge Analytica could be entitled to more than £12,000 in compensation, according to reports. Facebook could face costs of £625billion and be forced to pay £12,500 in damages to the people affected, reports quoted Dr Maureen Mapp as saying. Law and IT Minster Ravi Shankar Prasad has already warned the social media giant of "stringent" action for any attempt to influence polls through data theft, and had even threatened to summon its CEO Mark Zuckerberg, if needed.

Cambridge Analytica asks for one more week on data breach notice

Facebook on Wednesday launched a fresh effort to quell the firestorm over the hijacking of personal data, unveiling new privacy tools and settings to give users more control over how their information is shared.

The new features follow fierce criticism of the social network giant after it was revealed that the personal data of tens of millions of users was harvested by a British firm linked to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

The company acknowledged that it needed to "do more to keep people informed," but said the changes have been "in the works for some time."

"We've heard loud and clear that privacy settings and other important tools are too hard to find," chief privacy officer Erin Egan and deputy general counsel Ashlie Beringer said in a blog post.

"We're taking additional steps in the coming weeks to put people more in control of their privacy."

The updates include easier access to Facebook's user settings and tools to easily search for, download and delete personal data stored on the site used by two billion people.

Facebook said a new privacy shortcuts menu will allow users to quickly increase account security, manage who can see their information and activity on the site, and control advertisements they see.

Facebook's terms of service and data policy are being updated to improve transparency about how the site collects and uses information, according to Beringer and Egan.

The social network said it is also shutting down 'Partner Categories,' a feature which enables more precise targeting of ads by combining information from Facebook with data aggregated by outside companies such as Experian and Acxiom.

"This product enables third-party data providers to offer their targeting directly on Facebook," product marketing director Graham Mudd said in a statement posted online.

"While this is common industry practice, we believe this step, winding down over the next six months, will help improve people's privacy on Facebook."

Earlier this month, whistleblower Christopher Wylie revealed political consulting company Cambridge Analytica had obtained profiles on 50 million Facebook users via an academic researcher's personality prediction app.

The app was downloaded by 270,000 people, but also scooped up their friends' data without consent -- as was possible under Facebook's rules at the time.

Lukewarm praise

Yet some analysts said Facebook and its chief Mark Zuckerberg have made similar promises in the past.

"Zuck promised easier, better privacy controls 'in the coming weeks' eight years ago," Zeynep Tufekci, a University of North Carolina professor who studies social media, said on Twitter.

"The solution isn't shifting the burden to the user because the problem is the negative externalities of the business model."

Jennifer Grygiel, a Syracuse University professor of communications, said the new privacy settings and tools "are so obviously important to users that one has to wonder why this wasn't already done."

She said Facebook has "some of the best talent in the industry" and that "their old interface was not a mistake, it was by design."

Dylan Gilbert of the consumer group Public Knowledge said Facebook's moves "are welcome steps forward" but "do little to remedy a larger systemic problem."

"Online platforms currently lack meaningful legal incentives to protect users before their privacy is violated," Gilbert said in a statement.&nbsp;

"Facebook similarly lacks business incentives to engage in responsible data collection because disgruntled advertisers don't have anywhere comparable to go."

Deepening tech crisis 
 
Facebook's move comes as authorities around the globe investigate how the social network handles and shares private data, and after its shares have tumbled more than 15 percent, wiping out tens of billions in market value.

The crisis also threatens the Silicon Valley tech industry whose business model revolves around data collected on internet users.

The US Federal Trade Commission this week said it had launched a probe into whether Facebook violated consumer protection laws or a 2011 court-approved agreement on protecting private user data.

US lawmakers are trying to haul Zuckerberg to Washington to testify on the matter.

Authorities in Britain have meanwhile seized data from Cambridge Analytica in their investigation, and EU officials have warned of consequences for Facebook.

Facebook has apologized and vowed to fix the problem.

On Wednesday, six consumer and privacy organizations called upon Facebook to cease all campaign contributions and election activity until they ensure the integrity of all apps on the platform.

"A company whose platform is self-admittedly powerful enough to influence elections, must stay out of them," said a letter from the groups including Consumer Watchdog, Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Center for Digital Democracy. 
&nbsp;

The new features follow fierce criticism of the social network giant after it was revealed that the personal data of tens of millions of users was harvested by a British firm linked to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign

Facebook on Wednesday launched a fresh effort to quell the firestorm over the hijacking of personal data, unveiling new privacy tools and settings to give users more control over how their information is shared. The new features follow fierce criticism of the social network giant after it was revealed that the personal data of tens of millions of users was harvested by a British firm linked to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. The company acknowledged that it needed to "do more to keep people informed," but said the changes have been "in the works for some time." "We've heard loud and clear that privacy settings and other important tools are too hard to find," chief privacy officer Erin Egan and deputy general counsel Ashlie Beringer said in a blog post. "We're taking additional steps in the coming weeks to put people more in control of their privacy." The updates include easier access to Facebook's user settings and tools to easily search for, download and delete personal data stored on the site used by two billion people. Facebook said a new privacy shortcuts menu will allow users to quickly increase account security, manage who can see their information and activity on the site, and control advertisements they see. Facebook's terms of service and data policy are being updated to improve transparency about how the site collects and uses information, according to Beringer and Egan. The social network said it is also shutting down 'Partner Categories,' a feature which enables more precise targeting of ads by combining information from Facebook with data aggregated by outside companies such as Experian and Acxiom. "This product enables third-party data providers to offer their targeting directly on Facebook," product marketing director Graham Mudd said in a statement posted online. "While this is common industry practice, we believe this step, winding down over the next six months, will help improve people's privacy on Facebook." Earlier this month, whistleblower Christopher Wylie revealed political consulting company Cambridge Analytica had obtained profiles on 50 million Facebook users via an academic researcher's personality prediction app. The app was downloaded by 270,000 people, but also scooped up their friends' data without consent -- as was possible under Facebook's rules at the time. Lukewarm praise Yet some analysts said Facebook and its chief Mark Zuckerberg have made similar promises in the past. "Zuck promised easier, better privacy controls 'in the coming weeks' eight years ago," Zeynep Tufekci, a University of North Carolina professor who studies social media, said on Twitter. "The solution isn't shifting the burden to the user because the problem is the negative externalities of the business model." Jennifer Grygiel, a Syracuse University professor of communications, said the new privacy settings and tools "are so obviously important to users that one has to wonder why this wasn't already done." She said Facebook has "some of the best talent in the industry" and that "their old interface was not a mistake, it was by design." Dylan Gilbert of the consumer group Public Knowledge said Facebook's moves "are welcome steps forward" but "do little to remedy a larger systemic problem." "Online platforms currently lack meaningful legal incentives to protect users before their privacy is violated," Gilbert said in a statement. "Facebook similarly lacks business incentives to engage in responsible data collection because disgruntled advertisers don't have anywhere comparable to go." Deepening tech crisis Facebook's move comes as authorities around the globe investigate how the social network handles and shares private data, and after its shares have tumbled more than 15 percent, wiping out tens of billions in market value. The crisis also threatens the Silicon Valley tech industry whose business model revolves around data collected on internet users. The US Federal Trade Commission this week said it had launched a probe into whether Facebook violated consumer protection laws or a 2011 court-approved agreement on protecting private user data. US lawmakers are trying to haul Zuckerberg to Washington to testify on the matter. Authorities in Britain have meanwhile seized data from Cambridge Analytica in their investigation, and EU officials have warned of consequences for Facebook. Facebook has apologized and vowed to fix the problem. On Wednesday, six consumer and privacy organizations called upon Facebook to cease all campaign contributions and election activity until they ensure the integrity of all apps on the platform. "A company whose platform is self-admittedly powerful enough to influence elections, must stay out of them," said a letter from the groups including Consumer Watchdog, Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Center for Digital Democracy.

Facebook overhauls privacy settings to try and give users more control over their info

Facebook Inc said on Wednesday it would end its partnerships with several large data brokers who help advertisers target people on the social network, a step that follows a scandal over how Facebook handles personal information.

The world's largest social media company is under pressure to improve its handling of data after disclosing that information about 50 million Facebook users wrongly ended up in the hands of political consultancy Cambridge Analytica.

Facebook adjusted the privacy settings on its service on Wednesday, giving users control over their personal information in fewer taps.

Facebook has for years given advertisers the option of targeting their ads based on data collected by companies such as Acxiom Corp and Experian PLC.

The tool has been widely used among certain categories of advertisers - such as automakers, luxury goods producers and consumer packaged goods companies - who do not sell directly to consumers and have relatively little information about who their customers are, according to Facebook.

"While this is common industry practice, we believe this step, winding down over the next six months, will help improve people`s privacy on Facebook," Graham Mudd, a Facebook product marketing director, said in a statement.

Shares in Acxiom traded down more than 10 percent to $25 after Facebook`s announcement after the bell. Shares in other data brokers were largely unchanged. A representative for Acxiom could not immediately be reached for comment.

Facebook declined to comment on how the change could affect its ad revenue.

Advertisers would still be able to use third-party data services to measure how well their ads performed by examining purchasing data, Facebook said.

Facebook`s website lists nine third-party data providers that it has worked with, including Acxiom, Experian, Oracle Data Cloud , TransUnion and WPP PLC .

None of the companies could immediately be reached for comment.

Facebook on Wednesday also put all its privacy settings on one page and made it easier to stop third-party apps from using personal information. Privacy settings had previously been spread over at least 20 screens, Facebook said.

Facebook said in a blog post it had been working on the updates for some time but sped things up to appease users` anger over how the company uses data and as lawmakers around the globe call for regulation.

Facebook`s shares closed up 0.5 percent at $153.03 on Wednesday. They are still down more than 17 percent since March 16, when Facebook first acknowledged that user data had been improperly channelled in 2014 via a third-party app to Cambridge Analytica, which was later hired by Donald Trump`s 2016 presidential campaign.

The data leak has raised investor concerns that any failure by big tech companies to protect privacy could deter advertisers, who are Facebook`s lifeblood and lead to tougher regulation.

SCRUTINY FROM LAWMAKERS

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly apologised for the mistakes the company made and has promised to crack down on abuse of the Facebook platform and restrict developers` access to user information.

There is a new Facebook page - called Access Your Information - where users can see what they have shared and manage it.

"The biggest difference is ease of access in settings, which fulfils Mark Zuckerberg`s promise to make the privacy process and permissions more transparent to users," Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter said.

It was uncertain whether the changes will satisfy lawmakers.

They have announced ahead of a stringent European Union data law which comes into force in May. It requires companies to give people a "right to portability" - to take their data with them - and imposes fines of up to 4 percent of global revenue for companies breaking the law.

Lawmakers in the United States and Britain are still clamouring for Zuckerberg himself to explain how users` data ended up in the hands of Cambridge Analytica.

He plans to testify before Congress, a source briefed on the matter said on Tuesday. Facebook has said it has received invitations to testify and that it is talking to legislators.

Zuckerberg and the CEOs of Alphabet Inc and Twitter Inc have been invited to testify at an April 10 hearing on data privacy. The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee and U.S. Senate Commerce Committee have also asked Zuckerberg to appear at a hearing.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has opened an investigation into Facebook, and attorneys representing 37 states are also pressing Zuckerberg to explain what happened.

Facebook adjusted the privacy settings on its service on Wednesday, giving users control over their personal information in fewer taps.

Facebook Inc said on Wednesday it would end its partnerships with several large data brokers who help advertisers target people on the social network, a step that follows a scandal over how Facebook handles personal information. The world's largest social media company is under pressure to improve its handling of data after disclosing that information about 50 million Facebook users wrongly ended up in the hands of political consultancy Cambridge Analytica. Facebook adjusted the privacy settings on its service on Wednesday, giving users control over their personal information in fewer taps. Facebook has for years given advertisers the option of targeting their ads based on data collected by companies such as Acxiom Corp and Experian PLC. The tool has been widely used among certain categories of advertisers - such as automakers, luxury goods producers and consumer packaged goods companies - who do not sell directly to consumers and have relatively little information about who their customers are, according to Facebook. "While this is common industry practice, we believe this step, winding down over the next six months, will help improve people`s privacy on Facebook," Graham Mudd, a Facebook product marketing director, said in a statement. Shares in Acxiom traded down more than 10 percent to $25 after Facebook`s announcement after the bell. Shares in other data brokers were largely unchanged. A representative for Acxiom could not immediately be reached for comment. Facebook declined to comment on how the change could affect its ad revenue. Advertisers would still be able to use third-party data services to measure how well their ads performed by examining purchasing data, Facebook said. Facebook`s website lists nine third-party data providers that it has worked with, including Acxiom, Experian, Oracle Data Cloud , TransUnion and WPP PLC . None of the companies could immediately be reached for comment. Facebook on Wednesday also put all its privacy settings on one page and made it easier to stop third-party apps from using personal information. Privacy settings had previously been spread over at least 20 screens, Facebook said. Facebook said in a blog post it had been working on the updates for some time but sped things up to appease users` anger over how the company uses data and as lawmakers around the globe call for regulation. Facebook`s shares closed up 0.5 percent at $153.03 on Wednesday. They are still down more than 17 percent since March 16, when Facebook first acknowledged that user data had been improperly channelled in 2014 via a third-party app to Cambridge Analytica, which was later hired by Donald Trump`s 2016 presidential campaign. The data leak has raised investor concerns that any failure by big tech companies to protect privacy could deter advertisers, who are Facebook`s lifeblood and lead to tougher regulation. SCRUTINY FROM LAWMAKERS Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly apologised for the mistakes the company made and has promised to crack down on abuse of the Facebook platform and restrict developers` access to user information. There is a new Facebook page - called Access Your Information - where users can see what they have shared and manage it. "The biggest difference is ease of access in settings, which fulfils Mark Zuckerberg`s promise to make the privacy process and permissions more transparent to users," Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter said. It was uncertain whether the changes will satisfy lawmakers. They have announced ahead of a stringent European Union data law which comes into force in May. It requires companies to give people a "right to portability" - to take their data with them - and imposes fines of up to 4 percent of global revenue for companies breaking the law. Lawmakers in the United States and Britain are still clamouring for Zuckerberg himself to explain how users` data ended up in the hands of Cambridge Analytica. He plans to testify before Congress, a source briefed on the matter said on Tuesday. Facebook has said it has received invitations to testify and that it is talking to legislators. Zuckerberg and the CEOs of Alphabet Inc and Twitter Inc have been invited to testify at an April 10 hearing on data privacy. The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee and U.S. Senate Commerce Committee have also asked Zuckerberg to appear at a hearing. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has opened an investigation into Facebook, and attorneys representing 37 states are also pressing Zuckerberg to explain what happened.

Facebook cuts ties to data brokers in blow to targeted ads

<a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/world/chinas-xi-wins-denuclearisation-pledge-from-north-koreas-kim-affirms-friendship-126678">China's Xi wins denuclearisation pledge from North Korea's Kim, affirms friendship</a>

China said on Wednesday it won a pledge from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to denuclearise the Korean peninsula during a meeting with President Xi Jinping, who pledged in return that China would uphold its friendship with its isolated neighbour.

<a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/world/stormy-daniels-row-white-house-defends-trumps-silence-126679">Stormy Daniels row: White House defends Trump's silence</a>

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders on Tuesday defended United States President Donald Trump's silence on allegations levelled against him by porn star Stormy Daniels.

<a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/world/north-korea-willing-to-hold-summit-with-us-kim-jong-un-126675">North Korea willing to hold </a><a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/world/north-korea-willing-to-hold-summit-with-us-kim-jong-un-126675">summit</a><a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/world/north-korea-willing-to-hold-summit-with-us-kim-jong-un-126675"> with </a><a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/world/north-korea-willing-to-hold-summit-with-us-kim-jong-un-126675">US</a><a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/world/north-korea-willing-to-hold-summit-with-us-kim-jong-un-126675">: Kim Jong Un</a>

North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong Un confirmed on Wednesday his willingness to hold a summit with Washington. Kim's statement came while he was on a surprise visit to China where he held talks with his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping in Beijing.

<a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/world/facebooks-mark-zuckerberg-to-testify-before-us-congress-source-126687">Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg to testify before US Congress: Source</a>

Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg plans to testify before US Congress, a source briefed on the matter said on Tuesday, as he bows to pressure from lawmakers insisting he explains how 50 million users’ data ended up in the hands of a political consultancy.&nbsp;

<a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/world/nato-expels-seven-russian-diplomats-limits-size-of-mission-126642">NATO expels seven Russian diplomats, limits </a><a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/world/nato-expels-seven-russian-diplomats-limits-size-of-mission-126642">size</a><a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/world/nato-expels-seven-russian-diplomats-limits-size-of-mission-126642"> of </a><a href="http://cmsuat.wionews.com/world/nato-expels-seven-russian-diplomats-limits-size-of-mission-126642">mission</a>

NATO has expelled seven diplomats from Russia's mission to the alliance and blocked the appointment of three others over the nerve agent attack in Britain this month, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday.

China's Xi wins denuclearisation pledge from North Korea's Kim, affirms friendship China said on Wednesday it won a pledge from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to denuclearise the Korean peninsula during a meeting with President Xi Jinping, who pledged in return that China would uphold its friendship with its isolated neighbour. Stormy Daniels row: White House defends Trump's silence White House press secretary Sarah Sanders on Tuesday defended United States President Donald Trump's silence on allegations levelled against him by porn star Stormy Daniels. North Korea willing to hold summit with US: Kim Jong Un North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong Un confirmed on Wednesday his willingness to hold a summit with Washington. Kim's statement came while he was on a surprise visit to China where he held talks with his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg to testify before US Congress: Source Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg plans to testify before US Congress, a source briefed on the matter said on Tuesday, as he bows to pressure from lawmakers insisting he explains how 50 million users’ data ended up in the hands of a political consultancy. NATO expels seven Russian diplomats, limits size of mission NATO has expelled seven diplomats from Russia's mission to the alliance and blocked the appointment of three others over the nerve agent attack in Britain this month, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday.

News brief: Read the five big stories of the day

India has issued a notice to Facebook on Wednesday on issues over breaching data and influencing electoral processes. &nbsp;

The decision comes after a notice was issued to Cambridge Analytica recently. Sources say that Facebook is expected to reply by April 5.&nbsp;The notice came even before the deadline for responses given to Cambridge Analytica March 31.

After reports of Facebook breaching data and influencing electoral processes, the government on March 21 had warned the social networking giant saying it can even summon Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook if found guilty

Facebook has the largest user base in India and the current situation is very serious for the Indian democracy.

Some questions posed in the notice included -&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Whether data of Indian voters was compromised?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Have elections been manipulated in the past by Facebook?</li>
	<li>What kind of protection is available to users?</li>
	<li>What steps is Facebook taking to prevent misuse?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>How can Facebook ensure safety, security of users?</li>
</ul>

Last week, Minister of Electronics and IT, and Law & Justice, Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “Facebook is welcome to operate in India. I am happy that it has the largest footprint in India with around 20 crore users, but any attempt by Facebook or vendor like Cambridge Analytica to influence elections will not be tolerated.”

He had said the matter has become critical in India too because Facebook and Cambridge Analytica are found to be involved in influencing elections in an undesirable manner and the company to admitting the same.&nbsp;

The notice comes even before the deadline for responses given to Cambridge Analytica March 31

India has issued a notice to Facebook on Wednesday on issues over breaching data and influencing electoral processes. The decision comes after a notice was issued to Cambridge Analytica recently. Sources say that Facebook is expected to reply by April 5. The notice came even before the deadline for responses given to Cambridge Analytica March 31. After reports of Facebook breaching data and influencing electoral processes, the government on March 21 had warned the social networking giant saying it can even summon Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook if found guilty Facebook has the largest user base in India and the current situation is very serious for the Indian democracy. Some questions posed in the notice included - Whether data of Indian voters was compromised? Have elections been manipulated in the past by Facebook? What kind of protection is available to users? What steps is Facebook taking to prevent misuse? How can Facebook ensure safety, security of users? Last week, Minister of Electronics and IT, and Law & Justice, Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “Facebook is welcome to operate in India. I am happy that it has the largest footprint in India with around 20 crore users, but any attempt by Facebook or vendor like Cambridge Analytica to influence elections will not be tolerated.” He had said the matter has become critical in India too because Facebook and Cambridge Analytica are found to be involved in influencing elections in an undesirable manner and the company to admitting the same.

India issues notice to Facebook, asks for reply by April 5

Christopher Wylie, ex-employee of Cambridge Analytica(CA) who on Monday had said the London-based firm had links with India's Congress party, in a tweet revealed SCL India, the parent company of CA managed the campaigns of a number of Lok Sabha candidates.

"SCL India carried out a full political survey on behalf of a major party in the 2007 Uttar Pradesh elections," Wylie said on his Twitter page, adding that research included a "party audit and a statewide census of "politically active individuals" using in-depth interviews to assess the satisfaction levels of party workers at booth level.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
I've been getting a lot of requests from Indian journalists, so here are some of SCL's past projects in India. To the most frequently asked question - yes SCL/CA works in India and has offices there. This is what modern colonialism looks like. <a href="https://t.co/v8tOmcmy3z">pic.twitter.com/v8tOmcmy3z</a>
— Christopher Wylie (@chrisinsilico) <a href="https://twitter.com/chrisinsilico/status/978921850448371715?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2018</a></blockquote>
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In 2012, SCL India carried out a caste census in Uttar Pradesh on behalf of a national party, he said.

He further stated that in 2011, SCL India undertook a statewide research campaign of 200 million people to identify voter caste by households, which formed the "basis of further research into swing voter motivation and supporter mobilisation strategies".

The data was presented to individual candidates and tailored to their constituencies, Wylie revealed.

The Cambridge Analytica whistleblower said the firm was involved in similar work in the 2010 Bihar state elections and in Kerala, West Bengal, Assam, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh in 2007.

In the 2003 Rajasthan election, a major state party contacted SCL India to carry out internal party audit and look at the nature of the "voting population, particularly the behaviour of politically active individuals in the state."

SCL India has a database of over 600 districts and 7 Lakh villages, which are constantly updated, Wylie said on Twitter.

SCL India provided clients with the research to develop and disseminate the right messages, from the right sources using the right communication channel, Wylie said.

<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_H2ekVavpgM" width="560"></iframe>

SCL India has a database of over 600 districts and 7 Lakh villages, which are constantly updated, Wylie said on Twitter.

Christopher Wylie, ex-employee of Cambridge Analytica(CA) who on Monday had said the London-based firm had links with India's Congress party, in a tweet revealed SCL India, the parent company of CA managed the campaigns of a number of Lok Sabha candidates. "SCL India carried out a full political survey on behalf of a major party in the 2007 Uttar Pradesh elections," Wylie said on his Twitter page, adding that research included a "party audit and a statewide census of "politically active individuals" using in-depth interviews to assess the satisfaction levels of party workers at booth level. I've been getting a lot of requests from Indian journalists, so here are some of SCL's past projects in India. To the most frequently asked question - yes SCL/CA works in India and has offices there. This is what modern colonialism looks like. pic.twitter.com/v8tOmcmy3z — Christopher Wylie (@chrisinsilico) March 28, 2018 × In 2012, SCL India carried out a caste census in Uttar Pradesh on behalf of a national party, he said. He further stated that in 2011, SCL India undertook a statewide research campaign of 200 million people to identify voter caste by households, which formed the "basis of further research into swing voter motivation and supporter mobilisation strategies". The data was presented to individual candidates and tailored to their constituencies, Wylie revealed. The Cambridge Analytica whistleblower said the firm was involved in similar work in the 2010 Bihar state elections and in Kerala, West Bengal, Assam, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh in 2007. In the 2003 Rajasthan election, a major state party contacted SCL India to carry out internal party audit and look at the nature of the "voting population, particularly the behaviour of politically active individuals in the state." SCL India has a database of over 600 districts and 7 Lakh villages, which are constantly updated, Wylie said on Twitter. SCL India provided clients with the research to develop and disseminate the right messages, from the right sources using the right communication channel, Wylie said.

'SCL carried out survey for a major party in 2007 UP polls,' says Christopher Wylie

Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg plans to testify before US Congress, a source briefed on the matter said on Tuesday, as he bows to pressure from lawmakers insisting he explains how 50 million users’ data ended up in the hands of a political consultancy.&nbsp

Lawmakers in the United States and Europe are demanding to know more about the company’s privacy practices after a whistleblower said consultancy Cambridge Analytica improperly accessed data to target US and British voters in close-run elections.

Facebook said the company had received invitations to testify before Congress and that they were talking to legislators.

Facebook shares closed down 4.9 percent on Tuesday and have fallen almost 18 percent since March 16, when Facebook first acknowledged that user data had been improperly channelled to Cambridge Analytica, which was hired by Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

The tech sector is down 5.2 percent for March and on track for its worst month since April 2016. The data breach has raised investor concerns that any failure by big tech companies to protect privacy could deter advertisers and lead to tougher regulation.

House Energy and Commerce Committee spokeswoman Elena Hernandez said: “The committee is continuing to work with Facebook to determine a day and time for Mr Zuckerberg to testify”.

On the same day, Zuckerberg turned down British lawmakers’ invitations to explain to a British parliamentary committee what went wrong.&nbsp

The company said it would instead send one of his deputies, suggesting that Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer or Chief Product Officer Chris Cox had the expertise to answer questions on the complex subject.&nbsp

The head of the committee called Zuckerberg’s decision “astonishing” and urged him to think again.

Christopher Wylie, the whistleblower who once worked at Cambridge Analytica, said on Monday that Canadian company AggregateIQ had developed the software that used the algorithms from the Facebook data to target Republican voters in the 2016 U.S. election.

AggregateIQ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wylie’s remarks. Cambridge Analytica said it had not shared any of the Facebook profile data with AggregateIQ.&nbsp

Cambridge Analytica has said it did not use Facebook data in Trump’s campaign, and that it had deleted all Facebook data it obtained from a third-party app in 2014 after learning the information did not adhere to data protection rules.

In full-page advertisements in British and U.S. newspapers this week Zuckerberg said the app built by a university researcher “leaked Facebook data of millions of people in 2014”.

He apologized last week for the mistakes the company had made and promised to restrict developers’ access to user information as part of a plan to protect privacy.

The US&nbspSenate Judiciary Committee said on Monday it had invited Zuckerberg, as well as the CEOs of Alphabet Inc and Twitter Inc to testify at an April 10 hearing on data privacy.

The US&nbspHouse Energy and Commerce Committee and U.S. Senate Commerce Committee had already formally asked Zuckerberg to appear at a congressional hearing.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission took the unusual step of announcing on Monday that it had opened an investigation into the company - which it generally only does in cases of great public interest - citing media reports that raise what it called “substantial concerns about the privacy practices of Facebook.”&nbsp

Facebook said the company had received invitations to testify before Congress and that they were talking to legislators.

Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg plans to testify before US Congress, a source briefed on the matter said on Tuesday, as he bows to pressure from lawmakers insisting he explains how 50 million users’ data ended up in the hands of a political consultancy. Lawmakers in the United States and Europe are demanding to know more about the company’s privacy practices after a whistleblower said consultancy Cambridge Analytica improperly accessed data to target US and British voters in close-run elections. Facebook said the company had received invitations to testify before Congress and that they were talking to legislators. Facebook shares closed down 4.9 percent on Tuesday and have fallen almost 18 percent since March 16, when Facebook first acknowledged that user data had been improperly channelled to Cambridge Analytica, which was hired by Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. The tech sector is down 5.2 percent for March and on track for its worst month since April 2016. The data breach has raised investor concerns that any failure by big tech companies to protect privacy could deter advertisers and lead to tougher regulation. House Energy and Commerce Committee spokeswoman Elena Hernandez said: “The committee is continuing to work with Facebook to determine a day and time for Mr Zuckerberg to testify”. On the same day, Zuckerberg turned down British lawmakers’ invitations to explain to a British parliamentary committee what went wrong. The company said it would instead send one of his deputies, suggesting that Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer or Chief Product Officer Chris Cox had the expertise to answer questions on the complex subject. The head of the committee called Zuckerberg’s decision “astonishing” and urged him to think again. Christopher Wylie, the whistleblower who once worked at Cambridge Analytica, said on Monday that Canadian company AggregateIQ had developed the software that used the algorithms from the Facebook data to target Republican voters in the 2016 U.S. election. AggregateIQ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wylie’s remarks. Cambridge Analytica said it had not shared any of the Facebook profile data with AggregateIQ. Cambridge Analytica has said it did not use Facebook data in Trump’s campaign, and that it had deleted all Facebook data it obtained from a third-party app in 2014 after learning the information did not adhere to data protection rules. In full-page advertisements in British and U.S. newspapers this week Zuckerberg said the app built by a university researcher “leaked Facebook data of millions of people in 2014”. He apologized last week for the mistakes the company had made and promised to restrict developers’ access to user information as part of a plan to protect privacy. The US&nbspSenate Judiciary Committee said on Monday it had invited Zuckerberg, as well as the CEOs of Alphabet Inc and Twitter Inc to testify at an April 10 hearing on data privacy. The US&nbspHouse Energy and Commerce Committee and U.S. Senate Commerce Committee had already formally asked Zuckerberg to appear at a congressional hearing. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission took the unusual step of announcing on Monday that it had opened an investigation into the company - which it generally only does in cases of great public interest - citing media reports that raise what it called “substantial concerns about the privacy practices of Facebook.”

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg to testify before US Congress: Source

Facebook, embroiled in a huge data scandal which has wiped off over $100 billion in its market value, on Wednesday announced a series of privacy changes it was making to give users more control over their data.

Ahead of the entry into force of a landmark European Union data protection law in May, the social network will add a new "Privacy Shortcuts" menu which will let users review what they've shared and delete it, as well as features enabling them to download their data and move it to another service.

"The last week showed how much more work we need to do to enforce our policies and to help people understand how Facebook works and the choices they have over their data," Erin Egan, VP and Chief Privacy Officer, and Ashlie Beringer, VP and Deputy General Counsel at Facebook, wrote in a blog post.

"So in addition to Mark's announcements last week – cracking down on abuse of the Facebook platform, strengthening our policies, and making it easier for people to revoke apps' ability to use your data – we're taking additional steps in the coming weeks to put people in more control over their privacy."rol over their privacy."

Facebook, embroiled in a huge data scandal which has wiped off over $100 billion in its market value, on Wednesday announced a series of privacy changes it was making to give users more control over their data

Facebook, embroiled in a huge data scandal which has wiped off over $100 billion in its market value, on Wednesday announced a series of privacy changes it was making to give users more control over their data. Ahead of the entry into force of a landmark European Union data protection law in May, the social network will add a new "Privacy Shortcuts" menu which will let users review what they've shared and delete it, as well as features enabling them to download their data and move it to another service. "The last week showed how much more work we need to do to enforce our policies and to help people understand how Facebook works and the choices they have over their data," Erin Egan, VP and Chief Privacy Officer, and Ashlie Beringer, VP and Deputy General Counsel at Facebook, wrote in a blog post. "So in addition to Mark's announcements last week – cracking down on abuse of the Facebook platform, strengthening our policies, and making it easier for people to revoke apps' ability to use your data – we're taking additional steps in the coming weeks to put people in more control over their privacy."rol over their privacy."

Facebook to introduce new privacy controls in wake of data scandal

Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Christopher Wylie at a public hearing before the British Parliament's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee said India's Congress party was one of its clients.

"When you look at Facebook's biggest market, India is the top in terms of numbers of users. Obviously, that's a country which is rife with political discord and opportunities for destabilisation," said Labour MP Paul Farrelly, member of the parliamentary committee, during his questioning.

"I know that they have done all kinds of projects. I don't remember a national project but I know regionally. India's so big that one state can be as big as Britain," the 28-year-old said.

"I believe their client in India was the Congress," Wylie told the Parliamentary committee. "They do have offices there, they do have a staff there," he added.

The ruling BJP was quick to hit out at Congress after Wylie's deposition, IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters that Congress president "Rahul Gandhi has been exposed." "Congress lied to India," Ravi Shankar Prasad said. "Rahul Gandhi must apologise," he added.

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Rahul Gandhi needs to apologise to the nation for trying to subvert India’s election process using the Brahmastra of Cambridge Analytica. The nation demands an answer!
— Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) <a href="https://twitter.com/rsprasad/status/978643143779209216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Cambridge Analytica is in the dock for data theft and trying to manipulate voters using unlawful means. It has been established that Congress was a client of Cambridge Analytica. Congress Party needs to apologise to the nation for data theft and trying to manipulate voters.
— Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) <a href="https://twitter.com/rsprasad/status/978642633919639552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Cambridge Analytica whistle-blower Christopher Wylie has accepted before British Parliamentary committee that Cambridge Analytica worked for the Congress Party.This vindicates what we have been saying from day one. Rahul Gandhi has been trying to divert attention all these while
— Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) <a href="https://twitter.com/rsprasad/status/978641923060543489?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Earlier during the deposition before the committee, Wylie who worked for Cambridge Analytica earlier, declared that there is "tangible proof" that a Canada-based firm AIQ built the Ripon software to utilise algorithms from the Facebook data during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Ripon helped campaign managers to access voter database, target specific voters, conduct canvassing, manage fundraising and carry out surveys.

''It is categorically untrue, categorically untrue, that Cambridge Analytica has never used Facebook data," Wylie said, adding,"Facebook data and the acquisition using Aleksandr Kogan's (Cambridge University researcher) app was the foundational data set of the company. That is how the algorithms were developed. They spent a million dollars at least on that acquisition project." Watch the video here:&nbsp;

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Wylie has previously disclosed how users’ data from Facebook was used by Cambridge Analytica to help elect US President Donald Trump

Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Christopher Wylie at a public hearing before the British Parliament's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee said India's Congress party was one of its clients. "When you look at Facebook's biggest market, India is the top in terms of numbers of users. Obviously, that's a country which is rife with political discord and opportunities for destabilisation," said Labour MP Paul Farrelly, member of the parliamentary committee, during his questioning. "I know that they have done all kinds of projects. I don't remember a national project but I know regionally. India's so big that one state can be as big as Britain," the 28-year-old said. "I believe their client in India was the Congress," Wylie told the Parliamentary committee. "They do have offices there, they do have a staff there," he added. The ruling BJP was quick to hit out at Congress after Wylie's deposition, IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters that Congress president "Rahul Gandhi has been exposed." "Congress lied to India," Ravi Shankar Prasad said. "Rahul Gandhi must apologise," he added. Rahul Gandhi needs to apologise to the nation for trying to subvert India’s election process using the Brahmastra of Cambridge Analytica. The nation demands an answer! — Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) March 27, 2018 × Cambridge Analytica is in the dock for data theft and trying to manipulate voters using unlawful means. It has been established that Congress was a client of Cambridge Analytica. Congress Party needs to apologise to the nation for data theft and trying to manipulate voters. — Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) March 27, 2018 × Cambridge Analytica whistle-blower Christopher Wylie has accepted before British Parliamentary committee that Cambridge Analytica worked for the Congress Party.This vindicates what we have been saying from day one. Rahul Gandhi has been trying to divert attention all these while — Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) March 27, 2018 × Earlier during the deposition before the committee, Wylie who worked for Cambridge Analytica earlier, declared that there is "tangible proof" that a Canada-based firm AIQ built the Ripon software to utilise algorithms from the Facebook data during the 2016 presidential campaign. Ripon helped campaign managers to access voter database, target specific voters, conduct canvassing, manage fundraising and carry out surveys. ''It is categorically untrue, categorically untrue, that Cambridge Analytica has never used Facebook data," Wylie said, adding,"Facebook data and the acquisition using Aleksandr Kogan's (Cambridge University researcher) app was the foundational data set of the company. That is how the algorithms were developed. They spent a million dollars at least on that acquisition project." Watch the video here: ×

'I believe Cambridge Analytica's client in India was the Congress,' says whistleblower

Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Christopher Wylie at a public hearing told the British Parliament's Digital, Culture, Media, and Sports Committee that a Canadian company AggregateIQ worked on software called Ripon which was used to identify Republican voters ahead of the 2016 US presidential election.&nbsp;

"There's no tangible proof in the public domain that AIQ actually built Ripon, which is the software that utilised the algorithms from the Facebook data," Wylie told the committee.

Ripon, the town in which the Republican Party was founded in 1854, was the name allegedly given to a tool that let a campaign manage its voter database, target specific voters, conduct canvassing, manage fundraising and carry out surveys.

Wylie had earlier revealed how Facebook data was used by a British firm Cambridge Analytica in helping the Trump presidential campaign in 2016.

Meanwhile, a London law firm Bindmans said electoral offences were committed during the Brexit campaign in breach of UK vote rules.

"There is a prima facie case that the following electoral offences were committed by Vote Leave in the EU referendum campaign," Bindmans said.

Vote Leave ultimately declared campaign costs of just over £6.7 million - under the £7 million legal limit - of which nearly £2.7 million was spent on services by AIQ.

'There's no tangible proof in the public domain that AIQ actually built Ripon, which is the software that utilised the algorithms from the Facebook data,' Wylie told the committee.

Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Christopher Wylie at a public hearing told the British Parliament's Digital, Culture, Media, and Sports Committee that a Canadian company AggregateIQ worked on software called Ripon which was used to identify Republican voters ahead of the 2016 US presidential election. "There's no tangible proof in the public domain that AIQ actually built Ripon, which is the software that utilised the algorithms from the Facebook data," Wylie told the committee. Ripon, the town in which the Republican Party was founded in 1854, was the name allegedly given to a tool that let a campaign manage its voter database, target specific voters, conduct canvassing, manage fundraising and carry out surveys. Wylie had earlier revealed how Facebook data was used by a British firm Cambridge Analytica in helping the Trump presidential campaign in 2016. Meanwhile, a London law firm Bindmans said electoral offences were committed during the Brexit campaign in breach of UK vote rules. "There is a prima facie case that the following electoral offences were committed by Vote Leave in the EU referendum campaign," Bindmans said. Vote Leave ultimately declared campaign costs of just over £6.7 million - under the £7 million legal limit - of which nearly £2.7 million was spent on services by AIQ.

AIQ built Ripon to utilise Facebook data: Cambridge Analytica whistleblower

Observing that utilisation of social media cannot be stopped due to instances of "aberrations," Chief Election Commissioner O P Rawat today said the Facebook would remain the poll panel's social media partner during the Karnataka assembly elections.

He also said the social media cell of the EC would go into the issue of App of politicians and political parties sharing user data without the users' consent.

He said the cell will make its recommendations on the issue to the Commission which would then take a call.

"Any aberration won't stop the use of modern technology... Banks frauds have taken place, but we don't stop banking," Rawat told a press conference while announcing the Karnataka assembly poll schedule.

He was asked if the Facebook would continue to be the EC's social media partner in the wake of reports that its user data had been harvested by a company without the users' consent.

He said the Facebook would continue to be its social media partner. "It is. We have a Facebook page," he said.

The CEC said that the social media is a reality and the EC will take all precautions at its commend, to prevent episodes which adversely affect Indian elections.

The CEC had last week said the poll panel would coordinate with the enforcement agencies for suggestions to prevent "unlawful" activities such as attempts to influence polls.

He had made the remarks following revelations about data harvesting by the British poll consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica through Facebook.

The Facebook data scandal erupted after a whistleblower revealed that Cambridge Analytica, a data firm with ties to Trump's 2016 campaign, accessed personal data from 50 million users of the website without their knowledge, and might have kept that data even after the social media giant told the company to delete it.

The EC uses Facebook to encourage young people to enrol as voters.&nbsp

He also said the social media cell of the EC would go into the issue of App of politicians and political parties sharing user data without the users' consent

Observing that utilisation of social media cannot be stopped due to instances of "aberrations," Chief Election Commissioner O P Rawat today said the Facebook would remain the poll panel's social media partner during the Karnataka assembly elections. He also said the social media cell of the EC would go into the issue of App of politicians and political parties sharing user data without the users' consent. He said the cell will make its recommendations on the issue to the Commission which would then take a call. "Any aberration won't stop the use of modern technology... Banks frauds have taken place, but we don't stop banking," Rawat told a press conference while announcing the Karnataka assembly poll schedule. He was asked if the Facebook would continue to be the EC's social media partner in the wake of reports that its user data had been harvested by a company without the users' consent. He said the Facebook would continue to be its social media partner. "It is. We have a Facebook page," he said. The CEC said that the social media is a reality and the EC will take all precautions at its commend, to prevent episodes which adversely affect Indian elections. The CEC had last week said the poll panel would coordinate with the enforcement agencies for suggestions to prevent "unlawful" activities such as attempts to influence polls. He had made the remarks following revelations about data harvesting by the British poll consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica through Facebook. The Facebook data scandal erupted after a whistleblower revealed that Cambridge Analytica, a data firm with ties to Trump's 2016 campaign, accessed personal data from 50 million users of the website without their knowledge, and might have kept that data even after the social media giant told the company to delete it. The EC uses Facebook to encourage young people to enrol as voters.

Facebook to remain Election Commission's social media partner

By&nbspEllis Cashmore*

A number of Unidentified Flying Objects have landed around the world. What are their intentions? To destroy us? To bring peace on earth? Or just observe us earthlings and our perplexing little maneuvers? Do they come in peace or war? It’s impossible to know at the moment because they just sit there, day after day, week after week, without indicating whether they are just tourists or permanent residents.

North Korea, we understand, has already decided and issued a stark warning it is priming its nuclear reactors. The UFOs communicate something to us, but it’s incoherent. The grammar is unintelligible, so we’re not sure what to do. We could take our time in trying to translate the message and figure out what the UFOs’ inhabitants want (if indeed they want anything) and what they have to offer. After all, they could bring unimaginable benefits. But we’ll need time to try to arrange meetings and ponder the possibilities. Or we could simply open fire and try to bomb them out of existence.

As with this outlandish imaginary presence, there really isn’t a way we know for sure whether social media are a good or a bad thing. All we know for certain is that it’s arrived and shows no signs of disappearing. Like the make-believe UFOs, social media occupy a great, great deal of our attention, and after an initial period of doubt in the early 2000s (Facebook was launched in 2004, YouTube in 2005 and Twitter in 2006), they have become permanent fixtures.

Doom and Foreboding&nbsp

And yet, we still haven’t made up our minds about whether they are dangerous (like the invaders in HG Wells’ The War of the Worlds), or beneficial (like the benevolent Vulcans from Star Trek), or whether they’ll deliver on a utopian promise but take in return our identities and culture (as did the Overlords in Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End).

Traditional media are full of doom, foreboding and warnings of the baneful effects of using social media. If scholars, researchers, politicians and sundry self-appointed experts are to be believed, we have a perfect nightmare of mental-health problems, addictions as debilitating as many drug dependencies and “separation anxieties” if we are parted from a screen device for just an hour.

The media, for the most part, accept these warnings uncritically. Consider the following selection of headlines: “The under-5s glued to screens for four hours each day” (The Daily Mail) “Electroshock Therapy for Internet Users?” (The New York Times) “How to stop checking your smartphone in the middle of the night” (The Telegraph) “We now spend 1.3 years of our lives choosing what to watch” (ShortList) “Fraudster addicted to TV SHOPPING stole £370,000 from her employer” (Coventry Telegraph) “Video game addiction ‘contributes to depression and anxiety’” (i) and “Facebook, Twitter and Google have become a ‘recruiting platform for terrorism'” (The Telegraph).

Collectively, they provide a prodigious inventory of conditions, some mental, others physical, all undesirable. Much of the research on which these warnings is conducted by psychologists, neuroscientists and health researchers. Few seem interested in the social, cultural or historical contexts in which social media use takes place, or the perspectives of the people who engage in the activity. As such, they present the view of experts, not users and usually the human costs, rather than the cultural benefits, such as the #MeToo and #enough movements.

The perplexing paradox of social media is that it appears to turn its enthusiastic devotees into alien abductees who are wholeheartedly complicit in their own abduction. So, when an august body such as the United Nations pronounces that that social media has had a “determining role” in anti-Rohingya Muslim violence in Myanmar, and “substantively contributed to the level of acrimony and dissension and conflict,” it prompts a questions about the influence of social media — in particular Facebook — on its users.&nbsp

Facebook itself is presumably convinced enough to remove the pages of the anti-Islamic group Britain First and its leaders from its platform, explaining that the decision to remove the pages was made after Britain First had ignored a final warning about the posting of material that broke its community standards.

Cyber Consciousness 

While this chimes with common-sense ideas of decency and moral rectitude, it’s uncomfortably out of sync with the freedom of information ethos that characterized not just Facebook but all social media in their growth. The spirit of social media, as manifested in its users’ aspirations and attitudes, was to share information openly and with impunity and without any attempt to prevent certain ideas, memories, thoughts or any other element of culture that could be passed on, copied and spread — memes — emerging into the cyber-consciousness.

No wonder users laugh at scaremongering media that routinely issue caveats about the proliferation of fake news. They mistrust all news equally, whatever its provenance. Far from being the credulous, wide-eyed ingénues they are often mistaken to be, Screenagers are savvy, discerning and cute enough to know the difference between hokum and actuality. They don’t need a working knowledge of Foucault (though many have that too) to realize that what passes as truth is made possible by the discourse that commissions it rather than its relationship to fact.

What we’re witnessing, though probably without knowing it, is a slow dismantling of one generation’s confidence in established sources of information and its replacement with a kind of all-purpose skepticism. No wonder people despair. “You have to believe something, or someone!” they’d insist. But Screenagers have been reared in a wonderful world of seemingly unlimited information theirs is a holistic approach to knowledge — they believe that all things, like all people, are interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole.

“How do you define objective truth?” is not a question to ask a Screenager. “Says who?” or “What’s the source?” or “Who stands to gain if we believe it?” are nearer the mark. I write as a co-researcher on an international online project in which the responses of 2,000 Screenagers (you’ll have gathered this is the term we use to describe the current generation of smartphone-tablet-computer-users) were solicited on a range of subjects, from politics to personal health, and how these are being reshaped by screen devices. The results will be published later this year as Screen Society, the title reflecting the cultural transformation that’s taken place over the past decade.

At the moment, we humans are still apprehensive, as we would be if those UFOs had taken up residence and not revealed their intentions. We went through all this in the 1950s and early 1960s when televisions multiplied like those Tribbles in the Star Trek universe. Shortened attention spans, telly-addiction and family breakups were some of the predicted maladies these have all resurfaced, of course. Neither we nor the society we make up will unspool as a result of social media. Like every other piece of technology it has no immanent qualities. So, it is pointless trying to determine whether it’s good or evil. Social media are best judged on their potential, which is, as everyone now realizes, colossal.

No wonder people are concerned: These media are changing us, our children and practically every conceivable aspect of society just as profoundly as the steam engine did in the 18th century.&nbsp&nbsp

&nbsp

*Ellis Cashmore is visiting professor of sociology at Aston University and has previously worked at the universities of Hong Kong and Tampa.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Social media are changing us, our children and practically every conceivable aspect of society just as profoundly as the steam engine did in the 18th century.

By&nbspEllis Cashmore* A number of Unidentified Flying Objects have landed around the world. What are their intentions? To destroy us? To bring peace on earth? Or just observe us earthlings and our perplexing little maneuvers? Do they come in peace or war? It’s impossible to know at the moment because they just sit there, day after day, week after week, without indicating whether they are just tourists or permanent residents. North Korea, we understand, has already decided and issued a stark warning it is priming its nuclear reactors. The UFOs communicate something to us, but it’s incoherent. The grammar is unintelligible, so we’re not sure what to do. We could take our time in trying to translate the message and figure out what the UFOs’ inhabitants want (if indeed they want anything) and what they have to offer. After all, they could bring unimaginable benefits. But we’ll need time to try to arrange meetings and ponder the possibilities. Or we could simply open fire and try to bomb them out of existence. As with this outlandish imaginary presence, there really isn’t a way we know for sure whether social media are a good or a bad thing. All we know for certain is that it’s arrived and shows no signs of disappearing. Like the make-believe UFOs, social media occupy a great, great deal of our attention, and after an initial period of doubt in the early 2000s (Facebook was launched in 2004, YouTube in 2005 and Twitter in 2006), they have become permanent fixtures. Doom and Foreboding And yet, we still haven’t made up our minds about whether they are dangerous (like the invaders in HG Wells’ The War of the Worlds), or beneficial (like the benevolent Vulcans from Star Trek), or whether they’ll deliver on a utopian promise but take in return our identities and culture (as did the Overlords in Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End). Traditional media are full of doom, foreboding and warnings of the baneful effects of using social media. If scholars, researchers, politicians and sundry self-appointed experts are to be believed, we have a perfect nightmare of mental-health problems, addictions as debilitating as many drug dependencies and “separation anxieties” if we are parted from a screen device for just an hour. The media, for the most part, accept these warnings uncritically. Consider the following selection of headlines: “The under-5s glued to screens for four hours each day” (The Daily Mail) “Electroshock Therapy for Internet Users?” (The New York Times) “How to stop checking your smartphone in the middle of the night” (The Telegraph) “We now spend 1.3 years of our lives choosing what to watch” (ShortList) “Fraudster addicted to TV SHOPPING stole £370,000 from her employer” (Coventry Telegraph) “Video game addiction ‘contributes to depression and anxiety’” (i) and “Facebook, Twitter and Google have become a ‘recruiting platform for terrorism'” (The Telegraph). Collectively, they provide a prodigious inventory of conditions, some mental, others physical, all undesirable. Much of the research on which these warnings is conducted by psychologists, neuroscientists and health researchers. Few seem interested in the social, cultural or historical contexts in which social media use takes place, or the perspectives of the people who engage in the activity. As such, they present the view of experts, not users and usually the human costs, rather than the cultural benefits, such as the #MeToo and #enough movements. The perplexing paradox of social media is that it appears to turn its enthusiastic devotees into alien abductees who are wholeheartedly complicit in their own abduction. So, when an august body such as the United Nations pronounces that that social media has had a “determining role” in anti-Rohingya Muslim violence in Myanmar, and “substantively contributed to the level of acrimony and dissension and conflict,” it prompts a questions about the influence of social media — in particular Facebook — on its users. Facebook itself is presumably convinced enough to remove the pages of the anti-Islamic group Britain First and its leaders from its platform, explaining that the decision to remove the pages was made after Britain First had ignored a final warning about the posting of material that broke its community standards. Cyber Consciousness While this chimes with common-sense ideas of decency and moral rectitude, it’s uncomfortably out of sync with the freedom of information ethos that characterized not just Facebook but all social media in their growth. The spirit of social media, as manifested in its users’ aspirations and attitudes, was to share information openly and with impunity and without any attempt to prevent certain ideas, memories, thoughts or any other element of culture that could be passed on, copied and spread — memes — emerging into the cyber-consciousness. No wonder users laugh at scaremongering media that routinely issue caveats about the proliferation of fake news. They mistrust all news equally, whatever its provenance. Far from being the credulous, wide-eyed ingénues they are often mistaken to be, Screenagers are savvy, discerning and cute enough to know the difference between hokum and actuality. They don’t need a working knowledge of Foucault (though many have that too) to realize that what passes as truth is made possible by the discourse that commissions it rather than its relationship to fact. What we’re witnessing, though probably without knowing it, is a slow dismantling of one generation’s confidence in established sources of information and its replacement with a kind of all-purpose skepticism. No wonder people despair. “You have to believe something, or someone!” they’d insist. But Screenagers have been reared in a wonderful world of seemingly unlimited information theirs is a holistic approach to knowledge — they believe that all things, like all people, are interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole. “How do you define objective truth?” is not a question to ask a Screenager. “Says who?” or “What’s the source?” or “Who stands to gain if we believe it?” are nearer the mark. I write as a co-researcher on an international online project in which the responses of 2,000 Screenagers (you’ll have gathered this is the term we use to describe the current generation of smartphone-tablet-computer-users) were solicited on a range of subjects, from politics to personal health, and how these are being reshaped by screen devices. The results will be published later this year as Screen Society, the title reflecting the cultural transformation that’s taken place over the past decade. At the moment, we humans are still apprehensive, as we would be if those UFOs had taken up residence and not revealed their intentions. We went through all this in the 1950s and early 1960s when televisions multiplied like those Tribbles in the Star Trek universe. Shortened attention spans, telly-addiction and family breakups were some of the predicted maladies these have all resurfaced, of course. Neither we nor the society we make up will unspool as a result of social media. Like every other piece of technology it has no immanent qualities. So, it is pointless trying to determine whether it’s good or evil. Social media are best judged on their potential, which is, as everyone now realizes, colossal. No wonder people are concerned: These media are changing us, our children and practically every conceivable aspect of society just as profoundly as the steam engine did in the 18th century. *Ellis Cashmore is visiting professor of sociology at Aston University and has previously worked at the universities of Hong Kong and Tampa. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Opinion: Social media occupy a great deal of our attention

The European Union has given Facebook two weeks to answer questions raised by the scandal over personal data harvested from the social network, according to a copy of a letter obtained by AFP on Tuesday.

"Have any data of EU citizens been affected by the recent scandal?" the EU's justice commissioner Vera Jourova wrote Facebook, listing one of the questions. "I would appreciate a reply in the next two weeks."

Zuckerberg apologized last week for the mistakes Facebook had made and promised tougher steps to restrict developers' access to such information

The European Union has given Facebook two weeks to answer questions raised by the scandal over personal data harvested from the social network, according to a copy of a letter obtained by AFP on Tuesday. "Have any data of EU citizens been affected by the recent scandal?" the EU's justice commissioner Vera Jourova wrote Facebook, listing one of the questions. "I would appreciate a reply in the next two weeks."

EU gives Facebook 'two weeks' to answer data scandal questions: letter

Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg will not answer questions from British lawmakers over how millions of users' data got into the hands of political consultancy Cambridge Analytica, according to a letter sent by the social network seen by Reuters.

Zuckerberg will instead send his Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer or Chief Product Officer Chris Cox to appear before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee.

The committee, which had asked for Zuckerberg or someone senior from Facebook to appear, was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Reuters. Zuckerberg apologized last week for the mistakes Facebook had made and promised tougher steps to restrict developers' access to such information in a scandal which has rocked the social media giant on both sides of the Atlantic.

The firm's Head of UK Public Policy told lawmakers that Schroepfer or Cox were better placed to answer questions.

"Facebook fully recognizes the level of public and Parliamentary interest in these issues and support your belief that these issues must be addressed at the most senior levels of the company by those in an authoritative position," wrote Rebecca Stimson. "As such Mr Zuckerberg has personally asked one of his deputies to make themselves available to give evidence in person to the Committee."

The firm's Head of UK Public Policy told lawmakers that Schroepfer or Cox were better placed to answer questions

Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg will not answer questions from British lawmakers over how millions of users' data got into the hands of political consultancy Cambridge Analytica, according to a letter sent by the social network seen by Reuters. Zuckerberg will instead send his Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer or Chief Product Officer Chris Cox to appear before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee. The committee, which had asked for Zuckerberg or someone senior from Facebook to appear, was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Reuters. Zuckerberg apologized last week for the mistakes Facebook had made and promised tougher steps to restrict developers' access to such information in a scandal which has rocked the social media giant on both sides of the Atlantic. The firm's Head of UK Public Policy told lawmakers that Schroepfer or Cox were better placed to answer questions. "Facebook fully recognizes the level of public and Parliamentary interest in these issues and support your belief that these issues must be addressed at the most senior levels of the company by those in an authoritative position," wrote Rebecca Stimson. "As such Mr Zuckerberg has personally asked one of his deputies to make themselves available to give evidence in person to the Committee."

Facebook chief Zuckerberg will not answer UK lawmakers' questions over data leak

The US Federal Trade Commission has confirmed that Facebook is under investigation into its privacy practices, amidst allegations that its connection with British company Cambridge Analytica resulted in misuse of personal data of some 50 million users.

The FTC, in a statement yesterday, confirmed that it has an "open non-public investigation" into Facebook's privacy practices.

"FTC takes very seriously recent press reports raising substantial concerns about the privacy practices of Facebook, said Tom Pahl," FTC's Acting Director in the Bureau of Consumer Protection said.

Pahl said the FTC is firmly and fully committed to using all of its tools to protect the privacy of consumers.

"Foremost among these tools is enforcement action against companies that fail to honour their privacy promises, including to comply with Privacy Shield, or that engage in unfair acts that cause substantial injury to consumers in violation of the FTC Act," the statement said.

"Companies who have settled previous FTC actions must also comply with FTC order provisions imposing privacy and data security requirements," it said.

In a related development, attorney generals of as many as 37 states yesterday sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg calling for answers to reports that millions of Facebook users personal data were provided to third parties without their knowledge or informed consent.

In the letter, the attorney generals demand to know about Facebook's role in the manipulation of users data by Cambridge Analytica "without those users' knowledge"&nbspas well as Facebook's policies and procedures for protecting users private data.

The letter requests that Facebook produce information regarding their business practices and safeguards to protect users' privacy.

Signatories to the letter, among others, includes New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S Grewal.

Early reports indicate that user data of at least 50 million Facebook profiles may have been misused and misappropriated by third-party software developers, the letter said.

"According to these reports, Facebook's previous policies allowed developers to access the personal data of "friends" of people who used applications on the platform, without the knowledge or express consent of those "friends"," the attorney generals said.

It has also been reported that while providing other developers access to personal Facebook user data, Facebook took as much as 30 per cent of payments made through the developers' applications by Facebook users, they said.

"Facebook apparently contends that this incident of harvesting tens of millions of profiles was not the result of a technical data breach however, the reports allege that Facebook allowed third parties to obtain personal data of users who never authorised it, and relied on terms of service and settings that were confusing and perhaps misleading to its users," the letter said.

These revelations raise many serious questions concerning Facebook's policies and practices, and the processes in place to ensure they are followed, they said.

According to the attorney general, even with the changes Facebook has made in recent years, many users still don't know that their profile&nbspand personal data&nbspis available to third-party vendors.

"Facebook has made promises about users privacy in the past, and we need to know that users can trust Facebook. With the information we have now, our trust has been broken," the letter said.

The letter requests that Facebook produce information regarding their business practices and safeguards to protect users' privacy

The US Federal Trade Commission has confirmed that Facebook is under investigation into its privacy practices, amidst allegations that its connection with British company Cambridge Analytica resulted in misuse of personal data of some 50 million users. The FTC, in a statement yesterday, confirmed that it has an "open non-public investigation" into Facebook's privacy practices. "FTC takes very seriously recent press reports raising substantial concerns about the privacy practices of Facebook, said Tom Pahl," FTC's Acting Director in the Bureau of Consumer Protection said. Pahl said the FTC is firmly and fully committed to using all of its tools to protect the privacy of consumers. "Foremost among these tools is enforcement action against companies that fail to honour their privacy promises, including to comply with Privacy Shield, or that engage in unfair acts that cause substantial injury to consumers in violation of the FTC Act," the statement said. "Companies who have settled previous FTC actions must also comply with FTC order provisions imposing privacy and data security requirements," it said. In a related development, attorney generals of as many as 37 states yesterday sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg calling for answers to reports that millions of Facebook users personal data were provided to third parties without their knowledge or informed consent. In the letter, the attorney generals demand to know about Facebook's role in the manipulation of users data by Cambridge Analytica "without those users' knowledge"&nbspas well as Facebook's policies and procedures for protecting users private data. The letter requests that Facebook produce information regarding their business practices and safeguards to protect users' privacy. Signatories to the letter, among others, includes New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S Grewal. Early reports indicate that user data of at least 50 million Facebook profiles may have been misused and misappropriated by third-party software developers, the letter said. "According to these reports, Facebook's previous policies allowed developers to access the personal data of "friends" of people who used applications on the platform, without the knowledge or express consent of those "friends"," the attorney generals said. It has also been reported that while providing other developers access to personal Facebook user data, Facebook took as much as 30 per cent of payments made through the developers' applications by Facebook users, they said. "Facebook apparently contends that this incident of harvesting tens of millions of profiles was not the result of a technical data breach however, the reports allege that Facebook allowed third parties to obtain personal data of users who never authorised it, and relied on terms of service and settings that were confusing and perhaps misleading to its users," the letter said. These revelations raise many serious questions concerning Facebook's policies and practices, and the processes in place to ensure they are followed, they said. According to the attorney general, even with the changes Facebook has made in recent years, many users still don't know that their profile&nbspand personal data&nbspis available to third-party vendors. "Facebook has made promises about users privacy in the past, and we need to know that users can trust Facebook. With the information we have now, our trust has been broken," the letter said.

Facebook faces probe by US trade commission

Almost all British national newspapers yesterday carried a full-page apology from Facebook in the wake of the data privacy scandal. The apology was signed by Mark Zuckerberg who stated that "This was a &nbsp;breach of trust, I am sorry we didn't do more at the time. We are now taking steps to make sure that this doesn't happen again.&nbsp;

In the apology,&nbsp;Zuckerberg claimed that a quiz, developed by a university researcher, "leaked Facebook data of millions of people in 2014".

Zuckerberg hinted an extensive system and regulatory overhaul that the company will be undertaking to fix the existing loopholes and avert similar incidents from taking place.

However, there was no mention of the UK-based data analytics firm, Cambridge Analytica, the emerges at the centre of the Facebook data breach scandal.&nbsp;

"We have already stopped apps like this from getting so much information. Now we're limiting the data apps get when you sign in using Facebook," the ad read.

Zuckerberg also announced that now users will be equipped with the power to review all the apps that have access to their personal information -- "so you can shut off the ones you don't want any more".&nbsp;

Zuckerberg-led Facebook has lost over $50 billion in market value since the allegations surfaced.

"Thank you for believing in this community. I promise to do better for you," he wrote.

(With inputs from agencies)

'I promise to do better for you,' Zuckerberg noted

Almost all British national newspapers yesterday carried a full-page apology from Facebook in the wake of the data privacy scandal. The apology was signed by Mark Zuckerberg who stated that "This was a breach of trust, I am sorry we didn't do more at the time. We are now taking steps to make sure that this doesn't happen again. In the apology, Zuckerberg claimed that a quiz, developed by a university researcher, "leaked Facebook data of millions of people in 2014". Zuckerberg hinted an extensive system and regulatory overhaul that the company will be undertaking to fix the existing loopholes and avert similar incidents from taking place. However, there was no mention of the UK-based data analytics firm, Cambridge Analytica, the emerges at the centre of the Facebook data breach scandal. "We have already stopped apps like this from getting so much information. Now we're limiting the data apps get when you sign in using Facebook," the ad read. Zuckerberg also announced that now users will be equipped with the power to review all the apps that have access to their personal information -- "so you can shut off the ones you don't want any more". Zuckerberg-led Facebook has lost over $50 billion in market value since the allegations surfaced. "Thank you for believing in this community. I promise to do better for you," he wrote. (With inputs from agencies)

Leading British dailies carry Mark Zuckerberg's full-page apology

Facebook Inc, responding to reports in some technology industry media that it has been logging users'&nbsp;call and text history without their permission, said in a statement on Sunday that the function "has always been opt-in only."

The social media site said that when the feature is enabled by the user and contact information is uploaded, the platform can then use the given data when a call or text was made or received with Facebook Lite and Facebook Messenger services.

Facebook specified that it does not collect the content of calls or text messages and information is securely stored. This data is not sold to third parties, Facebook's statement said.

"You may have seen some recent reports that Facebook has been logging people's call and SMS (text) history without their permission. This is not the case," Facebook's statement said.

The Verge website reported that some Twitter users said they found months or years of call history data in their downloadable Facebook data file. Ars Technica reported Facebook requested access to contacts, SMS data and call history on Android devices to improve its friend recommendation algorithm.

"Call and text history logging is part of an opt-in feature for people using Messenger. While we receive certain permissions from Android, uploading this information has always been opt-in only," the world's largest social media network said.

"People have to expressly agree to use this feature," the statement said.

The leaders of the US&nbsp;House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee on Friday wrote to Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg detailing new concerns about the social media company's use of data and formally requesting that he testify at a hearing.

Facebook is under pressure from governments, investors and advertisers following allegations by a whistleblower that British political consultancy Cambridge

Analytica improperly accessed users'&nbsp;information to build profiles on American voters that were later used to help elect US&nbsp;President Donald Trump in 2016.

According to reports, Facebook requested access to contacts, SMS data and call history on Android devices to improve its friend recommendation algorithm

Facebook Inc, responding to reports in some technology industry media that it has been logging users' call and text history without their permission, said in a statement on Sunday that the function "has always been opt-in only." The social media site said that when the feature is enabled by the user and contact information is uploaded, the platform can then use the given data when a call or text was made or received with Facebook Lite and Facebook Messenger services. Facebook specified that it does not collect the content of calls or text messages and information is securely stored. This data is not sold to third parties, Facebook's statement said. "You may have seen some recent reports that Facebook has been logging people's call and SMS (text) history without their permission. This is not the case," Facebook's statement said. The Verge website reported that some Twitter users said they found months or years of call history data in their downloadable Facebook data file. Ars Technica reported Facebook requested access to contacts, SMS data and call history on Android devices to improve its friend recommendation algorithm. "Call and text history logging is part of an opt-in feature for people using Messenger. While we receive certain permissions from Android, uploading this information has always been opt-in only," the world's largest social media network said. "People have to expressly agree to use this feature," the statement said. The leaders of the US House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee on Friday wrote to Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg detailing new concerns about the social media company's use of data and formally requesting that he testify at a hearing. Facebook is under pressure from governments, investors and advertisers following allegations by a whistleblower that British political consultancy Cambridge Analytica improperly accessed users' information to build profiles on American voters that were later used to help elect US President Donald Trump in 2016.

Facebook: Call, text history logging requires users' permission

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg took out full-page ads in almost all of Britain&#39;s national newspapers Sunday to apologise for a huge data privacy scandal.

&quot;We have a responsibility to protect your information. If we can&#39;t we don&#39;t deserve it,&quot; the back page ads state.&nbsp;

Zuckerberg explained there was a quiz developed by a university researcher &quot;that leaked Facebook data of millions of people in 2014&quot;.

&quot;This was a breach of trust, and I&#39;m sorry we didn&#39;t do more at the time. We&#39;re now taking steps to make sure this doesn&#39;t happen again,&quot; he said.

The statement reflects public statements Zuckerberg made last week after the row prompted investigations in Europe and the United States, and sent Facebook&#39;s share price plunging.

Zuckerberg repeated that Facebook had changed the rules so no such data breach could happen again.

&quot;We&#39;re also investigating every single app that had access to large amounts of data before we fixed this. We expect there are others,&quot; he wrote.

&quot;And when we find them, we will ban them and tell everyone affected.&quot;

There was no mention of the British firm accused of using the data, Cambridge Analytica, which worked on US President Donald Trump&#39;s 2016 campaign.

It too has blamed the University of Cambridge researcher, Alexsandr Kogan, for any potential breach of data rules.

Kogan created a lifestyle quiz app for Facebook which was downloaded by 270,000 people, but allowed access to tens of millions of their contacts.

Facebook says he passed this to Cambridge Analytica without its knowledge. Kogan says he is being made a scapegoat.

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg took out full-page ads in almost all of Britain's national newspapers Sunday to apologise for a huge data privacy scandal

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg took out full-page ads in almost all of Britain's national newspapers Sunday to apologise for a huge data privacy scandal. "We have a responsibility to protect your information. If we can't we don't deserve it," the back page ads state. Zuckerberg explained there was a quiz developed by a university researcher "that leaked Facebook data of millions of people in 2014". "This was a breach of trust, and I'm sorry we didn't do more at the time. We're now taking steps to make sure this doesn't happen again," he said. The statement reflects public statements Zuckerberg made last week after the row prompted investigations in Europe and the United States, and sent Facebook's share price plunging. Zuckerberg repeated that Facebook had changed the rules so no such data breach could happen again. "We're also investigating every single app that had access to large amounts of data before we fixed this. We expect there are others," he wrote. "And when we find them, we will ban them and tell everyone affected." There was no mention of the British firm accused of using the data, Cambridge Analytica, which worked on US President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign. It too has blamed the University of Cambridge researcher, Alexsandr Kogan, for any potential breach of data rules. Kogan created a lifestyle quiz app for Facebook which was downloaded by 270,000 people, but allowed access to tens of millions of their contacts. Facebook says he passed this to Cambridge Analytica without its knowledge. Kogan says he is being made a scapegoat.

Facebook apologises for data scandal in UK newspaper ads

India has set a March 31 deadline for London-based political consultancy Cambridge Analytica to respond to a query on whether it was engaged to improperly harvest Facebook data on Indian citizens, the information technology ministry said.

India&#39;s information technology minister last week warned against any abuse of social media in elections, following reports that the analytics firm improperly accessed information on millions of Facebook users to target US&nbsp;voters.

Friday&#39;s notice to the firm followed local media reports that Indian political parties had used the data analytics firm during elections.

In a notice that went out on Friday, the entity was asked to send in its response on six specific queries by March 31, failing which it may face legal action from the Ministry of Information and Technology.&nbsp;The questions in the notice are as follows:&nbsp; 
 
1. Whether they have been engaged in any assignment to utilize data of Indians from the above-cited breach?&nbsp; 
 
2. Who are the entities that have engaged them for the above?&nbsp; 
 
3. How did they come to be in possession of such data?&nbsp;

4. Was consent taken from the individuals?&nbsp; 
 
5. How was such data collected used?&nbsp; 
 
6. Was there any profiling done on the basis of such data?

Earlier in the day, CERT issued an advisory asking Facebook users not to share their voting preferences on social media networking site besides following other general safeguards.&nbsp;

India is preparing for a general election in 2019 and several states will elect new assemblies this year and the next.

&quot;The fairness of Indian democracy and electoral process is a matter of pride and any attempt to influence the sanctity of the electoral franchise through dubious and questionable means is unacceptable,&quot; the ministry said in a statement.

Attempts by Reuters to seek comment from the firm, via social media, went unanswered.

The government was deeply concerned with allegations that data could have been used to influence people&#39;s behaviour, the ministry said.

The ministry has threatened to take legal action against companies and individuals engaging in any unauthorized use of such data.

(With inputs from Reuters)

India's information technology minister last week warned against any abuse of social media in elections, following reports that the analytics firm improperly accessed information on millions of Facebook users to target US voters

India has set a March 31 deadline for London-based political consultancy Cambridge Analytica to respond to a query on whether it was engaged to improperly harvest Facebook data on Indian citizens, the information technology ministry said. India's information technology minister last week warned against any abuse of social media in elections, following reports that the analytics firm improperly accessed information on millions of Facebook users to target US voters. Friday's notice to the firm followed local media reports that Indian political parties had used the data analytics firm during elections. In a notice that went out on Friday, the entity was asked to send in its response on six specific queries by March 31, failing which it may face legal action from the Ministry of Information and Technology. The questions in the notice are as follows: 1. Whether they have been engaged in any assignment to utilize data of Indians from the above-cited breach? 2. Who are the entities that have engaged them for the above? 3. How did they come to be in possession of such data? 4. Was consent taken from the individuals? 5. How was such data collected used? 6. Was there any profiling done on the basis of such data? Earlier in the day, CERT issued an advisory asking Facebook users not to share their voting preferences on social media networking site besides following other general safeguards. India is preparing for a general election in 2019 and several states will elect new assemblies this year and the next. "The fairness of Indian democracy and electoral process is a matter of pride and any attempt to influence the sanctity of the electoral franchise through dubious and questionable means is unacceptable," the ministry said in a statement. Attempts by Reuters to seek comment from the firm, via social media, went unanswered. The government was deeply concerned with allegations that data could have been used to influence people's behaviour, the ministry said. The ministry has threatened to take legal action against companies and individuals engaging in any unauthorized use of such data. (With inputs from Reuters)

India queries Cambridge Analytica over alleged Facebook data breach

Indian Ministry of Information Technology&nbsp;issued a show-cause notice to UK based data mining company Cambridge Analytica on Thursday.

The notice seeks to enquire into Facebook data breach and details of the company&#39;s Indian clients besides other information.

The notice also sought the company&#39;s response to the method of data possession and whether the consent was taken from users or not.

On Wednesday, Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology&nbsp;Ravi Shankar Prasad warned Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg of &#39;stringent&#39; action if any attempt to misuse social media was made during upcoming 2019 elections.

He also threatened to &quot;summon&quot;&nbsp;Zuckerberg to India if needed.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
Amid the Cambridge Analytica-Facebook data breach row, BJP and Congress both have gotten involved in the blame game of&nbsp;using services of Cambridge Analytica who has been accused of illegally mining private data of Facebook users.

Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad accused Congress Party in a press conference, of having ties with data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica whiles alleging that Congress is planning to use the firm&#39;s services for the next Lok Sabha elections and to boost Rahul Gandhi&#39;s profile.

He further asked Rahul Gandhi to explain the company&#39;s role in his social media outreach.

Meanwhile, Congress has denied all allegations.

Refusing accusations, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said, &quot;Indian National Congress or the Congress President has never used or never hired the services of a company called Cambridge Analytica,&quot;.

Cambridge Analytica has been accused of harvesting private information from more than 50 million Facebook users in developing techniques to support President Donald Trump&#39;s 2016 election campaign, the New York Times and London&#39;s Observer reported on Saturday (March 18).

The reports have mentioned that the firm has worked for Indian clients as well.

Indian Ministry of Information Technology has issued a show-cause notice to UK based data mining company Cambridge Analytica on Thursday

Indian Ministry of Information Technology issued a show-cause notice to UK based data mining company Cambridge Analytica on Thursday. The notice seeks to enquire into Facebook data breach and details of the company's Indian clients besides other information. The notice also sought the company's response to the method of data possession and whether the consent was taken from users or not. On Wednesday, Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad warned Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg of 'stringent' action if any attempt to misuse social media was made during upcoming 2019 elections. He also threatened to "summon" Zuckerberg to India if needed. Amid the Cambridge Analytica-Facebook data breach row, BJP and Congress both have gotten involved in the blame game of using services of Cambridge Analytica who has been accused of illegally mining private data of Facebook users. Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad accused Congress Party in a press conference, of having ties with data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica whiles alleging that Congress is planning to use the firm's services for the next Lok Sabha elections and to boost Rahul Gandhi's profile. He further asked Rahul Gandhi to explain the company's role in his social media outreach. Meanwhile, Congress has denied all allegations. Refusing accusations, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said, "Indian National Congress or the Congress President has never used or never hired the services of a company called Cambridge Analytica,". Cambridge Analytica has been accused of harvesting private information from more than 50 million Facebook users in developing techniques to support President Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign, the New York Times and London's Observer reported on Saturday (March 18). The reports have mentioned that the firm has worked for Indian clients as well.

Government issues show-cause notice to Cambridge Analytica

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/mark-zuckerbergs-shine-dims-as-guardian-of-facebook-users-36795" target="_blank">Mark Zuckerberg&#39;s shine dims as guardian of Facebook users</a>

Mark Zuckerberg rose to wealth and fame with a mission of connecting everyone through Facebook, but now faces the wrath of users outraged he isn&#39;t doing more to defend their data.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/in-yet-another-shake-up-trump-replaces-nation-security-adviser-mcmaster-with-bolton-36782" target="_blank">In yet another shake-up of his foreign policy team, Trump replaces NSA McMaster with Bolton</a>

US&nbsp;President Donald Trump shook up his foreign policy team again on Thursday, replacing HR&nbsp;McMaster as national security adviser with John Bolton, a hawk who has advocated using military force against North Korea and Iran.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/breaking-the-aadhaar-encryption-may-take-more-than-the-age-of-the-universe-uidai-ceo-36798" target="_blank">Breaking Aadhaar encryption may take &#39;more than </a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/breaking-the-aadhaar-encryption-may-take-more-than-the-age-of-the-universe-uidai-ceo-36798" target="_blank">age</a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/breaking-the-aadhaar-encryption-may-take-more-than-the-age-of-the-universe-uidai-ceo-36798" target="_blank"> of universe&#39;: UIDAI CEO</a>

Unique Identification Authority of India CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey on Thursday afternoon got a unique opportunity to make a PowerPoint presentation in the Supreme court to defend the government&#39;s ambitious Aadhaar scheme.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/babri-masjid-ram-janmabhoomi-case-supreme-court-to-continue-final-hearing-36785" target="_blank">Babri Masjid case: Supreme Court to continue &#39;final hearing&#39; today</a>

The Supreme Court will continue to hear the final arguments in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi case on Friday. The court will hear 13 appeals filed against the 2010 judgment of the Allahabad High Court in four civil suits.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/china-strikes-back-in-trade-spat-aims-tariffs-at-3-billion-us-goods-36786" target="_blank">China strikes back in trade spat, aims tariffs at $3 billion US goods</a>

China unveiled plans on Friday to impose tariffs on up to $3 billion of US&nbsp;imports in retaliation against US&nbsp;tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminium products, as the world&#39;s two largest economies stood on the brink of a trade war.

&nbsp;

Mark Zuckerberg's shine dims as guardian of Facebook users Mark Zuckerberg rose to wealth and fame with a mission of connecting everyone through Facebook, but now faces the wrath of users outraged he isn't doing more to defend their data. In yet another shake-up of his foreign policy team, Trump replaces NSA McMaster with Bolton US President Donald Trump shook up his foreign policy team again on Thursday, replacing HR McMaster as national security adviser with John Bolton, a hawk who has advocated using military force against North Korea and Iran. Breaking Aadhaar encryption may take 'more than age of universe': UIDAI CEO Unique Identification Authority of India CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey on Thursday afternoon got a unique opportunity to make a PowerPoint presentation in the Supreme court to defend the government's ambitious Aadhaar scheme. Babri Masjid case: Supreme Court to continue 'final hearing' today The Supreme Court will continue to hear the final arguments in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi case on Friday. The court will hear 13 appeals filed against the 2010 judgment of the Allahabad High Court in four civil suits. China strikes back in trade spat, aims tariffs at $3 billion US goods China unveiled plans on Friday to impose tariffs on up to $3 billion of US imports in retaliation against US tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminium products, as the world's two largest economies stood on the brink of a trade war.

WION Morning News Brief, March 23, 2018

The blueprint of the digital campaign with detailed insights&nbsp;of Trump presidential campaign has been obtained by the British daily, the Guardian on Thursday.

The blueprint file is a 27-page presentation presented to Cambridge Analytica employees of London, New York and Washington DC after Trump&#39;s victory in one of the most controversial elections in the United States.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Made by the Cambridge Analytica officials who were working with Donald Trump during his presidential campaign, shows the techniques&nbsp;that were used through social media platforms such as Google, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube users&#39; data.

According to the Guardian report, 10,000 different ads were tailor-made with intensive survey research and data modelling.

The report further mentions that those ads were viewed billion of times.

Cambridge Analytica, a data mining firm came under fire after it got&nbsp;accused of obtaining Facebook users&#39; data&nbsp;with illegal measures.

Cambridge Analytica and its parent company Strategic Communications Laboratories (SCL) has allegedly worked in over two hundred elections across the world in countries like India and Argentina, Nigeria among others.&nbsp;

The blueprint of the digital campaign with detailed insights of Trump presidential campaign has been obtained by the British daily, the Guardian on Thursday

The blueprint of the digital campaign with detailed insights of Trump presidential campaign has been obtained by the British daily, the Guardian on Thursday. The blueprint file is a 27-page presentation presented to Cambridge Analytica employees of London, New York and Washington DC after Trump's victory in one of the most controversial elections in the United States. Made by the Cambridge Analytica officials who were working with Donald Trump during his presidential campaign, shows the techniques that were used through social media platforms such as Google, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube users' data. According to the Guardian report, 10,000 different ads were tailor-made with intensive survey research and data modelling. The report further mentions that those ads were viewed billion of times. Cambridge Analytica, a data mining firm came under fire after it got accused of obtaining Facebook users' data with illegal measures. Cambridge Analytica and its parent company Strategic Communications Laboratories (SCL) has allegedly worked in over two hundred elections across the world in countries like India and Argentina, Nigeria among others.

10,000 ads were tailor-made during Trump digital campaign: Report

Amid the ongoing controversy over Facebook data breach, Chief Election Commissioner Om Prakash Rawat has said that India&#39;s Election Commission had limited engagement with the social media giant hence no vulnerability exist.

&quot;They had no access to data,&quot; Rawat said speaking exclusively to WION. He added that relationship with Facebook has not been suspended as the whole issue has not been diagnosed and confirmed. He also said that Election Commission is aware of the <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/mark-zuckerbergs-shine-dims-as-guardian-of-facebook-users-36795">Cambridge Analytica-Facebook issue</a> and is &quot;getting the matter enquired from investigating agencies to check if any misuse of data has taken place&quot;.

He also added that to the best of his knowledge, no such incident similar to what is being reported globally has come into light in context of the Indian electoral process. He, however, added that above developments need be taken very seriously so that it does not happen in India.

&quot;Social media is a reality and EC understands it. For this very reason we have a social media policy and also a social media hub in the Election Commission. It is a powerful tool to connect with the voters and we will continue to engage people through it with adequate stipulation that data is not breached and misused. And if any incident comes to light then adequate steps will be taken,&quot; Rawat said.

He said that the Election Commission has also set up a committee to look into legal provision of emerging technological environment so that any attempt to affect Indian elections is nipped in the bud. &quot;We will continue to harvest the potential of new technologies without becoming its victims,&quot; Rawat said. He also said that fake news is the emerging challenge in the electoral arena and Election Commission is determined to ensure that it does not end up manipulating Indian election process.

The Chief Election Commissioner further added that the poll panel is concerned about new cyber security threat, and to understand the emerging challenges it held a day-long meeting in March to understand the issue. &quot;Election Commission has already unveiled cyber security regulations and we would be interacting with concerned agencies so that mechanisms are in place. Officers were made aware of the new challenges,&quot; Rawat added. When asked as to what is the biggest challenge before the Lok Sabha elections he said, &quot;Protecting our IT systems is the biggest challenge.&quot;

When asked about the <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/office-of-profit-case-delhi-hc-restores-aap-mlas-membership-36835">Delhi High Court&#39;s decision</a> restoring 20 AAP MLAs&#39; membership, he said, &quot;We only advised. We rendered an opinion and I would refrain from making any opinion on the court order. We will study the order first and take actions accordingly.&quot;

Rawat said that to the best of his knowledge, no such incident similar to what is being reported globally has come into light in context of the Indian electoral process.

Amid the ongoing controversy over Facebook data breach, Chief Election Commissioner Om Prakash Rawat has said that India's Election Commission had limited engagement with the social media giant hence no vulnerability exist. "They had no access to data," Rawat said speaking exclusively to WION. He added that relationship with Facebook has not been suspended as the whole issue has not been diagnosed and confirmed. He also said that Election Commission is aware of the Cambridge Analytica-Facebook issue and is "getting the matter enquired from investigating agencies to check if any misuse of data has taken place". He also added that to the best of his knowledge, no such incident similar to what is being reported globally has come into light in context of the Indian electoral process. He, however, added that above developments need be taken very seriously so that it does not happen in India. "Social media is a reality and EC understands it. For this very reason we have a social media policy and also a social media hub in the Election Commission. It is a powerful tool to connect with the voters and we will continue to engage people through it with adequate stipulation that data is not breached and misused. And if any incident comes to light then adequate steps will be taken," Rawat said. He said that the Election Commission has also set up a committee to look into legal provision of emerging technological environment so that any attempt to affect Indian elections is nipped in the bud. "We will continue to harvest the potential of new technologies without becoming its victims," Rawat said. He also said that fake news is the emerging challenge in the electoral arena and Election Commission is determined to ensure that it does not end up manipulating Indian election process. The Chief Election Commissioner further added that the poll panel is concerned about new cyber security threat, and to understand the emerging challenges it held a day-long meeting in March to understand the issue. "Election Commission has already unveiled cyber security regulations and we would be interacting with concerned agencies so that mechanisms are in place. Officers were made aware of the new challenges," Rawat added. When asked as to what is the biggest challenge before the Lok Sabha elections he said, "Protecting our IT systems is the biggest challenge." When asked about the Delhi High Court's decision restoring 20 AAP MLAs' membership, he said, "We only advised. We rendered an opinion and I would refrain from making any opinion on the court order. We will study the order first and take actions accordingly."

Fake news emerging challenge in electoral arena: Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat on Cambridge Analytica row

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