The parliament panel on Data Protection questioned Facebook India’s Public Policy Director Ankhi Das and managing director Ajit Mohan on Friday on the data protection and regulatory issues.

The panel questioned them for nearly two hours, NDTV quoted the sources as saying. The committee members reportedly asked specific questions regarding the percentage of Facebook’s revenue that is spent on data protection.

The panel also suggested the social networking giant to not to use the personal data of users for its ‘inferential’ purposes on the advertisement or any other commercial purpose.

India is the biggest market for Facebook, with over 300 million users. The panel also asked how much tax the social network pays.

‘We deeply appreciate the opportunity to discuss data regulation issues with the Members of the Joint Committee on the Personal Data Protection Bill. We believe that India’s data protection law has the potential to propel the country’s digital economy and global digital trade, and we wholeheartedly support this effort. That is why we deeply appreciate being a part of this discussion and will continue to work alongside governments and regulators to find the right solutions which not only protect users’ privacy but are also interoperable with other major global privacy regulations,’ the Facebook spokesperson was quoted as saying.

The opposition had flagged some cases where Facebook had misused the data and also raised concerns about national security.

Amazon Refuses To Appear

Apart from Facebook, Twitter and Amazon have been asked for their views on data protection and privacy. The joint parliamentary committee examines the Personal Data Protection Bill, after the concerns raised by opposition parties.

Twitter and Amazon are asked to appear before the committee on October 28. However, the e-commerce company refused before the joint company, saying that ‘its experts are overseas’ and cannot travel because of the coronavirus pandemic.

They will consider the refusal as a ‘breach of privilege’, parliament sources told NDTV, adding that stringent action will be initiated if the officials fail to show up.

Ankhi Das’s name had cropped up in a recent controversy reported by The Wall Street Journal, over alleged bias by the social media giant in dealing with hate speeches.

Also Read: Give Votes, Take Free COVID-19 Vaccine: BJP’s Barter With Bihar Voters As Election Nears