The opposition has alleged that the official mobile app of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, downloaded over five million times on Android alone, sent user data to a US-based company without consent. This has sparked a furore on social media and biting criticism from Congress President Rahul Gandhi, come at a time of heightened sensitivity around the alleged misuse of personal data amid the unfolding Facebook-Cambridge Analytica controversy.
The ruling BJP has denied the allegations and said the data was being used only for analytics to offer all users the “most contextual content”. It also hit out at the Congress, saying the opposition party’s app shared data with third parties without consent.
French security researcher Elliot Alderson has claimed that the app is sharing private information of users to a third-party US company Clever Tap without their consent. Alderson shared a series of tweets claiming that when users create a profile on Narendra Modi Android app, their device information, as well as personal data, is sent to a third-party domain called in.wzrkt.com., which apparently belongs to the US company.
According to the researcher, device information that is being shared includes operating software, network type, Carrier, etc. Meanwhile, personal information of users such as email, photo, gender and name are also being shared with Clever Tap without consent.
When you create a profile in the official @narendramodi #Android app, all your device info (OS, network type, Carrier …) and personal data (email, photo, gender, name, …) are send without your consent to a third-party domain called https://t.co/N3zA3QeNZO. pic.twitter.com/Vey3OP6hcf
— Elliot Alderson (@fs0c131y) March 23, 2018
Interestingly this is not the first time that Elliot Alderson has highlighted security issues related to sharing of personal information. Earlier this year, he claimed that OnePlus is allegedly sending data back to a Chinese server.
The present issue with the Modi App was also compounded by criticism when over 13 lakh cadets of India’s National Cadet Corps being asked to install the app and share phone numbers and email addresses with the Prime Minister’s office.
The present concern over security of data is happening against the backdrop of the Aadhar controversy. While the government is trying to make it mandatory for all interfaces with the citizens, from mobile phones, bank accounts and land records to subsidies and rations, some are wary how safe their information is going to be. The Supreme Court tries to safeguard and uphold Right to Privacy by making it a Fundamental Right. The present controversy should be seen in this narrative.
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