Govt examining Facebook, Cambridge Analytica responses: Sources

The government is "examining" the responses submitted by Facebook and Cambridge Analytica on the data breach issue, even as it keeps a close watch on global developments on the matter, a senior IT Ministry official said today.

Over the last few weeks, the US social networking giant has drawn intense criticism from users and governments globally over the data leak scandal that hit millions of users.

Information of over 80 million Facebook users was allegedly harvested by data analytics and political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, leading to a global backlash against the company.

The Indian government had questioned both the companies on the impact of the data breach, following which Facebook had admitted that nearly 5.62 lakh people in India were "potentially affected" by the incident.

"The responses are being examined in the context of global developments," the official in IT Ministry said.