Mumbai, March 28: Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday said a letter has been issued by the government to Facebook Inc. seeking their response to the ongoing data-leak scandal. Prasad, who heads the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, said the Mark Zuckerberg-led firm will have to file its response by April 7.

Prasad said that a letter was issued to Facebook Inc., on March 28, seeking details in context to the ongoing data-breach scandal. He said that there seems a need for further information about the data-leak from Facebook Inc. He further informed that a notice was earlier issued to a UK-based firm, Cambridge Analytica, which is the third-party in the current fiasco, on March 23, 2018.

Talking about the questions posed in its letter to Facebook, the Minister said, “Whether any personal data of Indian voters or users have been compromised by Cambridge Analytica? Whether Facebook or its related downstream agencies utilising Facebook’s data have previously been engaged by any entities to manipulate the Indian electoral process?”

Earlier on Tuesday, Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg had refused to appear before the UK Parliamentary Committee over the same data-breach scandal. Instead of Zuckerberg appearing himself in person, Head of Public Policy Rebecca Stimson said, “Their Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer or Chief Product Office Chris Cox will be made available to appear before the Committee, depending on their preferred timing. Facebook fully recognises 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 to answer your questions.”

It seems that there won’t be any end to the controversies around the Facebook data-breach so soon. With Zuckerberg refusing to appear before UK Committee, will the company put in serious efforts to address the prevalent crisis, in India, is quite a thought!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 28, 2018 07:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).