The new rules for messaging apps announced as part of today’s digital/online media regulatory framework will make it impossible for WhatsApp to continue to operate in India in its present form. One of the key demands placed by the government in front of WhatsApp has always been that it should attach an origin-ID to all […]
Signal, the open source messaging platform, has become extremely slow and even unresponsive in several parts of India after a sudden rush of new users looking for a more secure alternative to WhatsApp. Global interest in Signal app has jumped by around 50 times since WhatsApp announced changes to its terms of use last week. […]
Dr Lal PathLabs, one of India’s top diagnostic chains, today clarified that the leak of patient data reported in the media involved only 1 in 200 patient records held by the company and did not involve any “material information loss”. “There was a misconfiguration in one of our minor web application where temporary records were […]
The Managing Director of Xiaomi, India’s No.1 smartphone maker, today clarified that his company does record a list of the websites visited by anyone using their apps, but but was doing so to make the user experience better. “The usage data that is logged is used to make your experience better,” Manu Kumar Jain said […]
Kerala government has issued a request for proposals from artificial intelligence companies to develop a real-time mass surveillance and facial identification system to be deployed across the state. The surveillance cameras will be connected to powerful computers, and any person whose name has been entered into the system will be detected the minute he or […]
Telecom operators and the Unique Identification Authority of India have denied having anything to do with the ‘mysterious’ addition of the UIDAI’s former helpline to the contact lists of Android phone users in India. That leaves only three candidates — Google, which makes Android, handset makers and any of the popular apps that has been […]
Going by indications from the Unique ID Authority of India, Aadhaar numbers could soon be linked to people’s images, allowing the government and corporations to identify people from their photographs and videos. “UIDAI introduces yet another landmark technology for authentication – Face Authentication,” tweeted @ceo_uidai, the official handle of the CEO of UID Authority of […]
Social and mainstream media is abuzz with headlines that scream that the Aadhaar database has been ‘leaked’ or ‘breached’ by miscreants and that the UID Authority of India has been caught napping. “Personal data of a billion Indians sold online for £6”, screams the Guardian. “Local Indian newspaper was able to access the private data […]
The Government of India has assured the Supreme Court that it will issue a notification to extend the deadline to link essential services, except mobile connections, to Aadhaar to March 31 from December 31. The assurance was given by the Attorney General in the Supreme Court today. The notification is likely to be issued as […]
BJP leader and libertarian politician Subramanian Swamy said he believes that the design of Aadhaar system exposes core data to ‘American intelligence agencies’ and expressed consternation that the government was continuing with the unique identification number scheme. Speaking to Mirror Now on the controversies around the linking of bank accounts, tax accounts and mobile numbers […]
Both individual freedom and privacy are very important but it cannot be unqualified as everything overrides when it comes to the national interest and security, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju said today. “When it comes to national security, I personally feel that national interest overrides everything,” said Rijiju while inaugurating an […]
Vodafone India said it would like to be given the power to manage the size of videos watched by users on its mobile network and lower it automatically “for overall quality welfare”. Participating in the discussions related to Net Neutrality and the powers to be given to telecom operators in traffic management, the company said it did […]
The total number of Aadhaar cards issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India has reached 112.25 cr or 1.122 bln as of the beginning of this month, but enrollments in the border state of Assam trail at 6.5%, according to numbers provided by the UIDAI. The total number suggests that about 86% of India’s estimated […]
The Unique Identification Authority of India has rebutted allegations that Aadhaar data submitted by citizens to companies are prone to misuse. Aadhaar — which is India’s equivalent to the US social security number — is a unique number given to each resident of India, including non citizens. Each Aadhaar number is associated with a set […]
Quora, the question and answer app that is very popular in certain pockets of population in India and abroad, said has made three crucial changes to its anonymity policy: installing a mandatory screening process, preventing anonymous users from liking and commenting, and removing direct linkage between anonymous content and their authors on the back-end systems. […]
Ten days after Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Jio, promised to roll out a superfast activation procedure for new SIMs within “2-4 weeks”, the facility is now available in several small towns, suggesting that the company may be running ahead of schedule on its e-KYC roll-out. The new system has been rolled out with the […]
Indians have the highest trust in banks and financial institutions when it comes to sharing personal data, while the least amount of trust is placed on social networks and search companies, according to a survey by Aimia, a loyalty management company. Financial institutions are perceived as sending out the most relevant communications, with 44% of […]
