VIJAYAWADA: A day after the Telangana police pointed fingers at Andhra Pradesh for alleged data breach, the State government went into a damage control mode and maintained that “there has been no breach or leak of any vital data of voters or beneficiaries of schemes.”
The Cabinet which met on Tuesday discussed threadbare the data breach allegations and reportedly decided to consider taking legal course against the Telangana police for making serious charges against the government as well as the State police.
Later in the day, the government roped in Principal Secretary, IT Department, K Vijayanand and Real-Time Governance Society (RTGS) CEO Babu A, who asserted that there was no breach or leak of any kind of data belonging to the State government or individuals.
Speaking to media, they explained that all the data with the government was safe and under a secure environment.
Refusing to comment on whether the sensitive data was shared with IT companies Bluefrog Mobile Technologies Pvt Ltd and IT Grids India Pvt Ltd, Vijayanand said, “We are here not to respond to any allegations, but assure people that their data with the State government is 100 per cent safe with no scope of any leakage.”
However, he admitted that both Bluefrog, which is under scanner for violation of rules, and IT Grids were service provides to some government departments. He refused to elaborate further. When asked for his comments on Telangana police investigation into the issue, he said he would react if they were served any notice.
Elaborating on Aadhaar data safety, he said as per the Aadhaar Act 2016, the individual database was not shared with anyone.
“Aadhaar seeding is done for identifying beneficiaries and used by service providers only after taking their consent. “There is no scope for misuse of the data of any individual, as the Aadhaar is authenticated electronically and data is stored in Central Identity Data Repository in a more security manner.”
“The data pertaining to Smart Pulse Survey, now called Praja Sadhikara Survey, is not available on internet and is stored in separate servers. Departments can obtain the data after getting their request cleared by the Core Data Authority. There is a standard protocol followed and the purpose for which particular data is sought will be verified. Moreover, the data is provided through web service and no department can download it on their own,” he elaborated.
“We have a sound monitoring mechanism in the form of Cyber Security Operation Centre working under APTF. It monitors data transactions of all government departments. Further, every transaction is logged and audited,” he said
Further elaborating on the technical issues, RTGS CEO Babu A said the State Data Centre was Oracle-based and one of the safest databases.
“Data sought by departments is sent in an encrypted form and decryption code is provided to only authorised officials of respective departments. We never whitelist IP of any private organisation,” he clarified.
Amid the allegations that the data was being used by the ruling party to delete votes of sympathisers of Opposition party, Chief Electoral Officer Gopal Krishna Dwivedi said the number of applications for deletion of votes had come down drastically over the past few days. In an informal chat with reporters, Dwivedi said initially they received lakhs of Form - 7 applications for deletion of votes but the number came down in recent days.
Reacting to the alleged data breach by IT Grids, Dwivedi said, “it is for the Cyberabad police to find out the truth behind it.”
Meanwhile, a delegation of ministers submitted a representation to the CEO seeking action against those who submitted Form - 7 for deletion of votes.
Applications for deletion of votes decreased: CEO
Amid allegations that the ‘stolen’ data was being used by the ruling party to delete votes of sympathisers of Opposition party, CEO Gopal Krishna Dwivedi said the number of applications for deletion of votes had come down drastically over the past few days. He said they received lakhs of Form - 7 applications initially, but the number came down now.
‘No need for Ashok to go into hiding’
Defending IT Grids India Pvt Ltd CEO Ashok, TDP Knowledge Centre coordinator G Malyadri said he has not committed anything illegal and there is no need for him to go into hiding. In fact, Telangana police are acting in violation of rules, he said.
Look Out Circular against CEO likely
The Cyberabad police are contemplating issuing Look Out Circular to all airports to prevent IT Grids CEO Ashok from fleeing the country. “His (Ashok) passport details are being obtained and LOC will be issued soon,” a police official said.
DGP: Police can go anywhere for probe
Responding to the allegation that the AP police were throwing the spanner into the probe being conducted by Hyderabad police into data ‘theft’, DGP RP Thakur said police of any State have the right to go anywhere in the country to investigate any case filed in their jurisdiction.