Sprinklr deal controversy

Sprinklr deal is a data deal between the government of Kerala and America-based Sprinklr, a citizen and customer experience management (CXM) firm, to collate and manage the COVID-19 data of people. This deal was signed by the IT department of the government of Kerala.
On 10th April 2020, the leader of the opposition Ramesh Chennithala raised this issue. He alleged that the government had given the personal data of 175,000 people, including the COVID-19 patients and those under home isolation in the state without their consent or knowledge. Chennithala further alleged that the Covid-19 related data collected across the state were going into the server of “marketing and PR (public relations) firm” Sprinklr, which was involved in the election campaign of US President Donald Trump in 2016.
The state government refuted the allegations, stating that the company, which offers its service to the World Health Organization, is run by a person from Kerala, its Software as a Service (SaaS) tool is offered free, and the data is stored in centers within the country. The high court of Kerala asked the state government to file a report on a petition challenging its agreement with Sprinklr for processing of data related to coronavirus patients.
Background
Sprinklr was founded in 2009 by Ragy Thomas, a technology marketing executive previously with email marketing company Bigfoot International. Thomas initially funded the company himself, with servers operating out of the basement of his home.
Sprinklr was involved in the successful election campaign of US President Donald Trump in 2016
Time Line
The data transfer of personal details of citizens from the government to sprinklr company had started on 25 March 2020. However, the deal was signed on 2nd April 2020. The initial contract had no clause about data protection. The opposition Ramesh Chennithala, who first raised this issue on 10th April 2020. The allegation was that the government had given the personal data of the quarantined public staying at home without their consent or knowledge. and he accused this deal was signed by IT department without due diligence or consultation with the state Legal Cell or even the Department of Health. The clause regarding data protection was added as an afterthought.

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