The Indian company which handles data for News International has hit back at claims made by Labour MP Tom Watson that there was an “attempted destruction of data” relating to the phone hacking allegations.
During this week’s emergency House of Commons debate on alleged phone hacking by the now-defunct News of the World, Watson made the following statement under Parliamentary privilege.
“I believe that the police should ask [News International chairman] Mr James Murdoch and [former News of the World editor] Rebekah Brooks whether they know of the attempted destruction of data at the HCL storage facility in Chennai, India,” he said. News International outsourced its data operations to HCL Technologies in 2009.
But, HCL has categorically refuted Watson’s allegation, saying it does not store any of its customers’ data locally.
“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,” it said in a statement. “Accordingly, it is wholly impossible for there to have been any destruction of data held by HCL, and any suggestion to the contrary is misleading.”
The statement went on: “Over the past two months, we have been fully co-operating with the Metropolitan Police at the request of News International. Due to the ongoing investigations and client confidentiality, HCL Technologies cannot under any circumstances, go into further details on this matter at this stage.”
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