THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Describing Sprinklr issue as the biggest data scam the state has ever seen, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala on Wednesday questioned Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s role in awarding the contract to manage the details of people under Covid-19 quarantine to an American company. In a fresh allegation, he also said the government had allowed the firm to “steal” the data of 87 lakh ration- card holders as well. He said the scam was happening in the state under the cover of Covid-19 at a time when an investigation is on against Sprinklr in the USA for data fraud.
Speaking at the daily press briefing later, Pinarayi said the information on people under Covid-19 surveillance collected through SaaS — the software tool provided by the US-based company free of cost — will not be misused. He read out a note listing the factors that prompted his government to select Sprinklr without following the normal selection procedures.
“Sprinklr is a reputed company proficient in the codification and analysis of information collected though various modes like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, e-mails and phone calls. Ragy Thomas, a Keralite, runs it. Their technology is used for collecting and analysing data on possible victims of Covid-19,” he said. Meanwhile, the BJP also demanded a detailed probe into alleged transfer of sensitive Covid-19 data by Kerala government to the company.