San Francisco, April 6: In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica data breach, Facebook has reportedly suspended a research project where it was in touch with several major US hospitals to collect data about their patients.

According to a report in CNBC late Thursday, Facebook aimed to build profiles of patients and help the hospitals, including Stanford Medical School and American College of Cardiology, figure out which patients may need special care or treatment.

"This work has not progressed past the planning phase, and we have not received, shared, or analysed anyone's data," a Facebook spokesperson told CNBC.

A Facebook statement said: "Last year Facebook began discussions with leading medical institutions to explore whether scientific research using anonymised Facebook data could help the medical community advance our understanding in this area.

"The project could have raised new concerns about the massive amount of data Facebook collects about its users, and how this data can be used in ways users never expected."

Facebook, however, told The Verge that the patient data would instead be used more generally.

"The project would not attempt to provide health recommendations for specific people. Instead, the focus would be on producing general insights that would help medical professionals take social connectedness into account as they develop treatment or intervention programmes for their patients," a Facebook spokesperson was quoted as saying.

Facebook has admitted that information of up to 87 million people, mostly in the US, may have been improperly shared with the British political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica.

Private data of over 5.6 lakh Indian Facebook users was also compromised by a private marketing firm that later sold the personal details acquired through a quiz app to Cambridge Analytica.

 

 

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Lucknow, Jul 27 (PTI): The wife of a constable posted at Bakshi ka Talab police station in Uttar Pradesh has committed suicide by hanging herself from the ceiling fan in the house, police said on Sunday.

They said the matter came to light through a video she posted on Instagram.

"On Sunday, it was learnt through an Instagram video that Saumya Kashyap committed suicide by hanging herself from the ceiling fan in the house. Saumya is the wife of constable Anurag Singh, who is currently posted in Eagle Mobile at Bakshi Ka Talab station," the police said in a statement.

In the video Saumya posted before her death, she talked about her in-laws trying to get her husband married for the second time and her brother-in-law threatening to kill her, the statement said.

Police said they have informed the deceased's family, who have left from their Mainpuri house.

"On receipt of their complaint, a case will be registered and necessary action will be taken," the statement said.