COVID-19 data leak in Kannur too, this time from Kerala Police’s Google Maps link
KANNUR: Following news that the details of Covid-19 patients were compromised in Kasaragod, another data breach has been reported in Kannur.
The fact that the leak happened from the Google Maps link provided by the police made things a bit embarrassing for the force and the district administration.
As the news broke on Monday that the details are being compromised, Kannur police deleted the link.
The Google Maps link was prepared by the Kannur cyber cell to help the police monitor the movements of COVID patients and people under home isolation.
The link had the details of the persons, including their phone numbers.
Though health and district administration workers are in the field to track the movements of the patients and home-quarantined people, a special police team has also been asked to monitor everyone linked with COVID. It is to help this team comprising an SHO, a senior CPO and a CPO that the link was created.
There was no need to enter a password to access the link which made it possible for anyone to open it and access the details. The district administration confirmed that there had been a fault on the part of the police as they had failed to secure the data of patients.
Collector T V Subhash would submit a report in this regard to the state government. The cyber cell officials say that they have started an investigation.
A top officer in Thiruvananthapuram said the link was not developed by the police department but possibly by district-level officers.
“The breach will be investigated at the district level,” he said. Kannur has the most number of active Covid-19 patients in the state at 58 as of Monday. So far, 112 persons have tested positive in the district and of them, 54 have been discharged.
Kasaragod DMO seeks probe into data breach
KASARGOD: A day after TNIE reported a possible leak or theft of data of Covid-19 survivors, Kasaragod District Medical Officer Dr A V Ramdas said he has filed a complaint with the district police chief to look into the allegations.
“We have to know who are calling the patients,” he said. Patients’ names, addresses and phone numbers were with different agencies and officials, and a breach could happen at any level, he said.
He said this information was uploaded on the Kerala government’s COVID tracking application at the panchayat level.
Also, the patients have installed the Central government’s Aarogya Setu app which also seeks information about the patients.
“So a data breach could happen at any level. The police should find it,” he said.