Whistleblower Christopher Wylie puts out CA's projects in India

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ANI New Delhi [India]
Last Updated : Mar 28 2018 | 6:55 PM IST

A day after whistleblower Christopher Wylie clarified that Cambridge Analytica "worked extensively" in India, he on Wednesday put out the controversial data analytics firm's past projects, including 2010 general elections, in the country.

"I've been getting a lot of requests from Indian journalists, so here are some of SCL's past projects in India," Wylie tweeted.

The whistleblower while testifying before the UK Parliament on Tuesday said Congress was a client of the firm and that SCL/CA works in India and has offices there. "This is what modern colonialism looks like."

Tweeting several pictures along with the post, Wylie said SCL India has a database of over 600 districts and seven lakh villages, and the data is constantly being updated.

"The firm's services help clients to identify and target key groups within the population to effectively influence their behaviour to realise the desired outcome."

According to one of the pictures, the information collected by the SCL includes household level demographics, specifically focusing on caste data, linked to online mapping applications.

It said the firm carried out caste census and research campaigns with interviews in states as well as general elections.

It further said the CA on behalf of a national party had analysed caste structure and dynamics within Uttar Pradesh during 2012 state elections.

In 2009 general elections, SCL India managed the campaigns of a number of Lok Sabha candidates, and its research and campaign data collection methodologies formed strategies to give the clients successful campaigns.

It mentioned the CA also undertook various other projects including Psephological studies and behavioural poling in Delhi and Chhattisgarh; electoral research and strategy for Janata Dal (United) in the 2010 state elections; research-based campaigns to support a trans-national programme for countering the Non-Desired Behaviour (NDB) of recruitment into, and support of, violent Jihadism in Kerala, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh in 2007.

He revealed the firm also worked on psephological studies and opinion pollings for a national party in 2003 Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan elections.

Tuesday's revelations have already initiated a blame game between the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party, with the BJP demanding an apology from the grand old party and the Congress hit back by denying the allegations and asking Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to initiate a probe into the matter as it would only expose the ruling party.

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First Published: Mar 28 2018 | 6:55 PM IST

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