A significant data leak, allowing easy access to the personal information of Indian citizens through the inclusion of phone and Aadhaar Card ID numbers, has raised concerns about the awareness of the Modi government at the center.
Among the numerous individuals affected by this breach are prominent lawmakers and well-known journalists in the country.
Indian media reports suggest that the information available includes the citizens’ Adhaar Card numbers, the ID card numbers used for vaccination, gender, birth year, name of the vaccination centre, voter ID, and PAN card numbers.
When a mobile number or Adhaar Card ID is entered, the Telegram bot discloses data to anyone on the platform.
When the phone number of Rajesh Bhushan, the Union Secretary to the Ministry of Health, was entered on the Telegram bot, the details along with his wife’s details, who is an MLA from the Kotdwar Constituency in Uttarakhand, were revealed, reported Malayala Manorama.
Further, Gokhale, on Twitter, addressed the government and raised several questions about the data breach.
“How did personal details incl passport no, Aadhaar no., etc. get leaked when Modi Govt claims it follows “strong data security”? Why is the Modi Govt incl Home Ministry NOT AWARE of this leak & why haven’t Indians been informed about a data breach? Who has the Modi Govt given access to sensitive personal data of Indians incl Aadhaar & Passport nos. which enabled this leak? (sic)”, he wrote.
He also claimed that the personal details of senior journalists like Rajdeep Sardesai and Barkha Dutt, and Rahul Shivshankar have also been leaked