KOLKATA: Startling reports have emerged regarding a data breach in the CoWIN platform, revealing that anyone can access personal details through the social media application Telegram by simply entering the individual’s phone number or Aadhaar card information.
This revelation has sent shockwaves throughout the nation, as the CoWIN app contains personal information of Indians spanning from VVIPs to ordinary citizens.
Responding to the news, Trinamool Congress (TMC) spokesperson Saket Gokhale tweeted blurred details of politicians and journalists whose information was allegedly exposed.
“SHOCKING: There has been a MAJOR data breach of the Modi Government where personal details of ALL vaccinated Indians, including their mobile numbers, Aadhaar numbers, passport numbers, voter IDs, and family members’ details, have been leaked and are freely available,” his tweet reads.
Among the examples provided by the TMC spokesperson were Opposition leaders such as Rajya Sabha MP and TMC Leader Derek O’Brien, former Union minister P Chidambaram, Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and KC Venugopal, deputy Rajya Sabha chairman Haribansh Narayan Singh, and Rajya Sabha MPs Sushmita Dev, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, and Sanjay Raut.
Gokhale emphasized the severity of the situation, tweeting, “The personal details of LITERALLY EVERY INDIAN who received a Covid-19 vaccination are freely available on this leaked database.”
Gokhale asked, “How did personal details, including passport numbers and Aadhaar numbers, get leaked when the Modi Government claims to follow ‘strong data security’? Why is the Modi Government, including the Home Ministry, not aware of this breach, and why haven’t Indians been informed about this data breach? Who has the Modi Government given access to sensitive personal data of Indians, including Aadhaar and passport numbers, that enabled this leak? This is a matter of serious national concern.”
ALSO READ: Marks list row: Cases against SFI leaders put Kerala govt in dock
The Union health ministry has not provided any response to these allegations, but reports claimed that the government was looking into the breach.
Meanwhile, the Telegram bot which produces CoWIN users’ data has stopped responding to requests beginning Monday morning.
Many people on Twitter criticized the Central government for failing to securely store citizens’ sensitive data on its platforms, and pointed out a tweet by national health authority CEO Dr RS Sharma who had assured that the CoWIN data was safe.
“#CoWIN has state-of-the-art security infrastructure and has never faced a security breach. Data of our citizens on CoWIN is absolutely #safe and #secure. Any news about data leaks from CoWIN holds no merit,” he had tweeted in January last year.
The New Indian’s requests for a comment from the health ministry is yet to elicit any response.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:
