Data breach should be probed
The general public is not sufficiently aware of the dangers of personal information being leaked. This is mainly because many people do not have much savings to lose. But in developed countries, people give utmost importance to personal information. If our personal information reaches someone else, it can be used for various frauds. Hence breach of personal data is a very serious problem.
At the time of administering the Covid vaccine, the Aadhaar number, phone number etc. of the nation's citizens were collected on the Cowin portal. The first information that came out was that many people's data has been leaked from this. It came out through the messaging app Telegram.
When the numbers of Union Ministers, Leaders of Opposition, high-ranking officials, mediapersons etc. were given, their entire information was available on Telegram. The information available from Telegram is similar to that provided on the Cowin portal. But the central government has clarified that the data leak did not come from the Cowin portal. Union IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar revealed that the information was not leaked from the Cowin portal, but did not say where the breach took place. Therefore, the central government should conduct a detailed investigation to remove the mystery of the information released. Despite such a huge information leak, the police have not registered a case.
Two years ago, a hacker group claimed to have hacked the Cowin portal and leaked the data of crores of people. But then the central government explained that it is not true. However, based on this breach, the government should be prepared to take more steps to ensure the security of data. Aadhaar is today the baseline for various uses. Once the Aadhaar number is linked with the bank account number, the hackers can even know the details of the bank accounts. Such information can also be used to create fake documents in the name of individuals and commit frauds. The real person will come to know after being accused of fraud. So this information leak cannot be taken lightly. If the personal information is collected for a specific purpose, it must be removed within a specified period. Nowadays, many external forces are willing to pay for data. Data is used as an important tool of marketing all over the world. Therefore, the central government, which has a huge collection of people's data, is bound to ensure its security.