The use of personal data could affect the election process in this country; the general elections are slated for 2019

The government of India demands that British company Cambridge Analytica prepare a report if it used personal data of Indian citizens so as to affect the next year's election.

According to Reuters, the Indian side aggreed to wait for the response until March 31; otherwise, it will take measures. Specifically, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technologies threatened the company and certain individuals with lawsuits - for any unauthorized use of personal data of Indian citizens.

'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, as quoted by the news agency.

The Indian government asks Cambridge Analytica to answer six questions about the company's activity in this country. Reuters adds that New Delhi's concerns arose when opposing Indian parties accused each other of using Cambridge Analytica services; one of the sides claimed the course of forthcoming election could be affected.

Earlier, it became known that Cambridge Analytica, which cooperated with Donald Trump during the elections, harvested information from 50 million Facebook users illegally. This data was used to define political affiliations of voters and to spread political ads.

On the next day, U.S. and British authorities sent a request to receive the details on the incident to the company.

Later, Forbes reported, that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg lost $5 billion because of this scandal.