Facebook data breach row: Our data was not misused, says Election Commission

To review its partnership with the social media giant

March 23, 2018 10:01 pm | Updated 10:42 pm IST - NEW DELHI

Chief Election Commissioner Om Prakash Rawat. File

Chief Election Commissioner Om Prakash Rawat. File

Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat said here on Friday that the electoral body would approach enforcement agencies to put preventive measures in place against data breaches.

“Our engagement with Facebook is very limited. It is just used to inform voters, and there is no means to access our data through it,” Mr. Rawat told The Hindu .

In the wake of the controversy, the EC may review its partnership with Facebook, through which it reaches out to the youth. The poll panel had collaborated with the social media platform on at least three occasions in the recent past to send reminders to Facebook users, in 13 Indian languages, to register as voters.

The Commission sponsored a National Voters’ Day pledge on Facebook in January.

Mr. Rawat said the panel had taken note of media reports on how Facebook user data were harvested and used for manipulating voter behaviour.

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