CIOIN

HCL Technologies, in a statement to CIO, has denied storing any data belonging to News International--let alone destroying any data.

The statement comes in response to recent allegations that HCL Technologies deleted e-mails that would have been useful in the investigation of News of the World scandal. News of the World is a subsidiary of News International.

The Chairman of the Home Affairs Committee Rt. Hon. Keith Vaz MP sent a letter to the chairman of HCL Technologies. The letter asked HCL whether it had destroyed evidence pertaining to the inquiry into the now infamous phone hacking scandal that shut down News of the World, one of the largest-selling English newspapers in the world.

The allegations surfaced during the trial of Tony Sheridan, a former Scottish Socialist Party Leader in UK, who said that News International’s e-mail data has been tampered with by HCL Technologies, India.

In its reply to three questions Vaz put before them, HCL Technologies has issued a statement saying: “HCL Technologies can confirm that News International is an existing client and that we manage its IT infrastructure based on an IT outsourcing agreement signed in 2009.”

According to the five-year contract, HCL Technologies manages News International’s datacenter and network. It also includes transformation projects such as migrating operating systems to lower-cost solutions, business continuity improvements, virtualization, and consolidation and standardization of storage and servers.

But according to the company, they do not manage any data.

“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. 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,” says an HCL Technologies spokesperson.

The statement also declared that the company strongly adheres to, follows, and respects the data privacy of both their customers and of the authorities in the countries where they operate. HCL Technologies says it has been fully co-operating with the Metropolitan Police, over the past two months, 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.”