HCL denies News Int'l 'data destruction' claim

BANGALORE, INDIA: Indian IT services major HCL Technologies refuted the allegations on Friday that the emails belonging to its client News International were destroyed at its Chennai office.

News Corp is at the centre of controversy following the phone-hacking scandals, which resulted in the company deciding to shut down its tabloid, 'News of the World'.

During a discussion on the hacking issue on Wednesday at British House of Commons, Labour Party member Tom Watson had pointed finger towards HCL, which had won a five-year deal in 2009 from News International, a UK subsidiary of News Corporation, to manage its datacenter and network environments along with strategically transforming them.

According to the Labour backbencher, News Corp made the attempt to destroy the data in an attempt to cover-up the phone hacking scandal.

“I believe that the police should ask Mr James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks whether they know of the attempted destruction of data at the HCL storage facility in Chennai, India,” Watson reportedly said during the debate.

Refuting the allegation, HCL said it does not store any of its customers' data locally and said that such reports are misleading.

“In light of some regrettable comments made over the last few days, we categorically confirm that HCL Technologies does not and has not stored any data either in the UK or anywhere else in the world,” the company said in a statement.

According to a PTI report, HCL said it strongly adhered to, follows, and respect the data privacy of both customers and authorities in the countries where it operates.

“Over the past two months, we have been fully co-operating with the Metropolitan Police at the request of News International,” it added.