Opposition parties have urged a thorough probe into the problem after reports of a potential breach of beneficiary data recorded on the CoWIN platform appeared. Congress, the main opposition party, is requesting a court investigation of the entire government data management system because it is worried that the public may lose faith in how the government manages its data.
The reports have been denied by the government as “mischievous” and without any support, but Congress is still insisting on a thorough probe. According to Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State for IT, there is no proof that the CoWIN app or database has been directly compromised. He also emphasized how quickly the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) addressed the issue and conducted an investigation.
However, Congress contends that it is the responsibility of anybody, notably the government, to prioritize the preservation of individual privacy through its general secretary K C Venugopal. To reduce vulnerability to these breaches, Venugopal emphasizes the significance of securely storing and erasing unwanted data. He contends that citizens will no longer be able to trust the government with their personal information if it does not have robust safeguards in place for data.
The Trinamool Congress has criticized the government’s response as well, specifically questioning why an investigation has been requested if the reports are untrue. The party’s national spokesperson, Saket Gokhale, asserted that over 1.5 billion people’s personal information, including Aadhaar, passport information, and voter identification information, had been taken from the CoWIN database. Gokhale doubts the government’s claim that the data is secure, pointing out that a breach like this shows that the CoWIN database lacks encryption, making it available to unauthorized people.
In response to the opposition’s worries, Chandrasekhar insists that neither the CoWIN app nor the database has been directly compromised. Venugopal, however, disagrees with the minister’s casual remark and contends that this breach indicates that the CoWIN data was not encrypted. He continues to fault the minister for using the phrase “previously stolen data,” saying that it indicates the data has already been compromised.
The Trinamool Congress and Congress both call for the government to be more transparent and forthcoming about the alleged breach. Venugopal requests that the minister conducts a news conference to answer important questions about the breach, including where the previously stolen data came from, what steps were taken, and what security precautions were put in place for the CoWIN database. In support of these views, Gokhale demands an explanation for the claimed violation in the past and the reason why the Indian people were not made aware of it.
The suspected data leak has drawn the attention of the CPI(M), which has also expressed its significant worry about it. The party draws attention to an earlier claim and subsequent Computer Emergency Response Team examination regarding leaking from the CoWIN system. The specifics of this probe, nevertheless, remain secret.
In conclusion, opposition parties are calling for a comprehensive inquiry into the alleged data breach on the CoWIN platform, particularly the Congress and Trinamool Congress. The government denies the accusations, but this hasn’t persuaded the opposition, which still demands more responsibility and transparency when it comes to the handling of personal data. The opposition’s worries highlight the necessity of strong data protection systems and a guarantee of citizens’ privacy in the context of digital platforms.
