Personal data of Indian citizens, including prominent lawmakers, have been reportedly violated as their confidential information surfaced on the messaging app, Telegram. The Trinamool Congress alleges that the Modi administration is unaware of this significant data leak.
Indian media highlight that the leaked information includes Aadhaar Card numbers used for vaccination registration, the individual’s gender, birth year, vaccination center’s name, voter ID, and PAN card numbers. A report from Malayala Manorama indicates that the data breach is linked to the CoWIN portal, the country’s COVID vaccination registration site.
Details of notable politicians, including Telangana’s Information and Communication Technology Minister Kalvakuntla Taraka Rama Rao, DMK Lok Sabha Member Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, BJP Tamil Nadu President K Annamalai, Congress Lok Sabha Member Karti Chidambaram, and former Health Union Minister Harsh Vardhan have been reportedly exposed.
Trinamool Congress spokesperson Saket Gokhale publicized on Twitter that the data of TMC leader Dered O’Brien, ex-Union Minister P Chidambaram, Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and K C Venugopal, and journalists Rajdeep Sardesai and Barkha Dutt had similarly been leaked.
Gokhale has addressed the government on Twitter with several queries regarding the breach. He questioned the administration’s claim of “strong data security,” its apparent lack of awareness about the leak, and why Indian citizens weren’t informed about the breach. He also inquired about who had been granted access to sensitive personal data that led to this breach.
Further, he expressed that the issue is of serious national concern and called out Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Minister in charge, for his perceived incompetence. Gokhale added that the personal information of senior journalists Rajdeep Sardesai, Barkha Dutt, and Rahul Shivshankar has also been leaked.
