Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge stated that the public’s personal data is not secure
The Congress party has once again criticized the Indian government over an alleged data breach of Covid vaccine beneficiaries, accusing the Narendra Modi government of disregarding people’s fundamental right to privacy and national security.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge stated that the public’s personal data is not secure, citing previous instances such as the Aadhaar data breach in 2018 and cyber attacks on institutions like AIIMS in November 2022.
Kharge highlighted the significant increase in cyber attacks during the tenure of the Modi government, questioning its commitment to digital India and the protection of citizens’ privacy. He pointed out that no Data Privacy Law or National Security Policy on Cyber Attacks has been implemented.
Congress General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala also criticized the government, alleging that the data of the entire country had been stolen and highlighting over 45 lakh cyber attack incidents between 2018 and 2022. He accused the government of jeopardizing the privacy and security of millions of citizens while failing to take responsibility.
These remarks from Congress leaders come in response to allegations of a data breach of Covid vaccine beneficiaries through a Telegram bot. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) countered the allegations, stating that the breach was “mischievous” in nature and asserting that the CoWIN portal, which manages vaccine registrations, is secure with adequate data privacy safeguards. The MoHFW has requested the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) to investigate the issue and conduct a review of CoWIN’s security measures.
