Government can’t protect citizens’ details: Cong criticizes Center for data breach

On Tuesday, Congress stepped up its attack on the Center for an alleged data breach on the CoWIN platform, accusing it of failing to protect the personal data of millions of people.

Stating that the CoWIN portal was completely secure with adequate guarantees for data privacy, the government dismissed data breach claims on the platform as “malicious” and said the matter has been reviewed by the nodal security agency. country’s cybernetics, CERT-In.

Congress Speaker Mallikarjun Kharge said the Narendra Modi government does not care about citizens’ right to privacy or national security.

“Overall, the situation is clear. The Modi government does not care about the fundamental right to privacy of Rs 140 crore and national security. No data privacy law has been enacted and no data privacy policy has been implemented. national security on cyber attacks,” he said. in a Hindi tweet.

“No matter how much an irresponsible Modi government hides the CoWIN data leak, three things are clear: the public’s personal data is not safe. Every Indian knows how in 2017 the Modi government strongly opposed the Supreme Court declare the right to privacy as a fundamental right”. good.

“Cyberattacks and data breaches have been on the rise continuously in the country…whether it’s the 2018 ‘world’s largest’ AADHAAR data breach or the November 2022 cyberattack against AIIMS,” the congressional chief said. .

Significantly, he said, the Modi government had told the Supreme Court in September 2018 that Aadhaar’s data is protected in walls 13 feet high and five feet thick.

Kharge claimed that cyber-attacks have multiplied during the tenure of the Modi government, which is “beating the drum for Digital India”.

Citing figures provided by the government in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha in February this year, he said that in 2018 there were 2.08 lakh cyber attacks, in 2019 – 3.94 lakh, in 2020 – 11.58 lakh, in 2021 – 14.02 lakh and in 2022 -13.91 lakh of cyber attacks.

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said the government cannot handle its own data but is trying to silence other organizations, as happened during the farmers’ protest.

“It’s pretty clear that CoWIN data was breached, either before or now. The reality is that you can’t keep Indian data safe,” he told reporters.

“What is being done to secure the data of the Indians?” she also asked.

In regards to the data breach, he said the government will have to tell the truth.

“How has the data been breached and to what extent? How did the government keep silent, since, according to them, previous data was breached? It’s pretty clear that the CoWIN data was breached, either now or previously. Who is using this data? The government must tell the truth,” he told a news conference.

Congress on Monday demanded a high-level judicial inquiry into the entire government data management apparatus to identify the extent of the danger it poses to the privacy of all Indians following data breach allegations on the CoWIN platform.

Congress Secretary General (Communications) Jairam Ramesh asked the government what immediate steps it is taking to protect the personal data of crores of Indians.