While the Congress and the BJP are busy trading charges about alleged links with Cambridge Analytica, lakhs of social media users in India are deeply concerned that their personal data could have been stolen, misused or even compromised. Whatever explanation Facebook might now be offering about the data breach, it cannot conceal the fact that its control systems are weak. It has failed to honour the deep trust reposed in it by millions of its users. It is also alarming that data can be used to try to subvert electoral systems and processes in large democracies. If at all some of our local political parties or vested interests had indeed hired the ‘services’ of such ‘data dacoits’, stringent action needs to be taken against them.

A. Mohan,

Chennai

Many of us have been aware of and concerned about social media being used to peddle fake news. That may seem a quaint misdemeanour by the time the world fully realises the extent and implications of the “Cambridge Analytica scandal”. While both the national parties are vehemently denying having any links with CA, there is still a lot to be alarmed about. What the CA is said to be guilty of is to indirectly assist political parties in judging an electorate base. In short, political parties could possibly be using underhand means in the form of our ears, biases and prejudices to manipulate the way we choose our political leaders instead of making us assess their performance and promises. The way the CA scam unfolded is perhaps similar to many of the questionnaires a lot of us come across on social media. How many of us click on “I Agree”, after having read through the disclaimers? India lacks adequate data privacy laws. Also, the Election Commission needs to come up with measures to ensure that voter data is not made vulnerable.

K.S. Jayatheertha,

Bengaluru