TMC Criticizes Modi Government as Four Arrested for Selling Personal Data on Dark Web: Allegations of Misinformation in Parliament Emerge
TMC's Saket Gokhale accuses the Modi-led government of misleading Parliament after four arrests in the Aadhaar and passport data leak case. Delhi Police Cyber Unit apprehends four individuals linked to the leaked personal data, sourced from the ICMR database and available on the dark web. The data breach, detected in October, involves over 81.5 crore Indians, making it potentially the country's largest data leak.
In the aftermath of the arrest of four individuals involved in the alleged leak of Aadhaar and passport details on the dark web, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Saket Gokhale has accused the Narendra Modi-led government of providing false information in Parliament concerning Aadhaar data security. The arrests followed an alert from an American cybersecurity agency, revealing the purported data leak of over 81 crore Indians' Aadhaar and passport information.
Taking to social media, Gokhale questioned the government's credibility, stating, "In Parliament, Modi Govt replied to my question & denied any breach of Aadhaar. And now 4 people have been arrested for leaking Aadhaar & passport details of Indians on the dark web from ICMR database. Why is your Ministry lying in Parliament, Rajeev Chandrashekhar? What are you hiding?"
The four individuals were apprehended by the Delhi Police Cyber Unit about ten days ago after the authorities initiated suo motu action. The leaked personal data, including Aadhaar and passport details, reportedly originated from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) database and was available for purchase on the dark web.
The breach was initially detected in October, with police officials revealing that sensitive information was being offered for sale on illicit online platforms.
A News18 report termed the incident as potentially the 'biggest' data leak in the country, disclosing personal details of over 81.5 crore Indians allegedly sourced from the ICMR. Resecurity, an American cybersecurity and intelligence agency, first noticed the leak.
Congress MP Manickam Tagore addressed a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, raising concerns about the security and integrity of citizens' data following the data leak alert from the American cybersecurity company.
Tagore's letter stated, "According to their report, personally identifiable information of 815 million Indian citizens, including Aadhaar numbers and passport details, has been compromised and is being sold on the dark web. This alarming revelation has raised serious questions about the security and integrity of our citizens' sensitive data."
In a previous incident in July, Gokhale alleged a breach in the country's Covid-19 vaccination tracking platform CoWin, exposing details of senior political leaders on the social media app Telegram. The breach included Aadhaar card numbers, gender, date of birth, and vaccination center details of senior leaders.
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