Cong, BJP spar over ‘data breach’ from NaMo app
POTSHOT Congress chief Rahul Gandhi hits out at JD(S) for supporting BJP in Karnataka NEW DELHI:
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over allegations of data sharing from his official App without users’ consent, a charge the BJP trashed.
Gandhi also accused the media of “burying” the story.
His attack on the prime minister was based on a media report in which a French vigilante hacker has purportedly alleged that data was stolen from his official App -NaMo App -- without consent of the users.
“Hi! My name is Narendra Modi. I am India’s Prime Minister. When you sign up for my official App, I give all your data to my friends in American companies,” Gandhi said on Twitter.
In the tweet, he also attached a news story titled, “Data theft allegations reaches PM Modi’s doorstep, French vigilante hacker’s stunning revelation”.
The BJP reacted on Twitter saying, it did not expect “any better” from the Congress chief. It also said the data is used only for analytics using third party service, similar to Google Analytics.
“We also take this opportunity to encourage Rahul Gandhi to download NaMo App to keep himself appraised of the good things happening in India,” the BJP4India said in a tweet. It put out several tweets on the matter.
The BJP said “contrary to Rahul’s lies, fact is that data is being used for only analytics using third party service, similar to Google Analytics. Analytics on the user data is done for offering users the most contextual content.” It said the app gives access to users in ‘guest mode’ without even any permission or data. The permissions required are all contextual and cause-specific, the party said.
“Rahul Gandhi is no match for Narendra Modi. But seeing his fright about the Namo App, is very amusing. When his bots tried to trend #DeleteNamoApp day before yesterday, the popularity and downloads of Namo App only increased,” it said.
In his tweet, Gandhi also attacked the media saying on Twitter, “PS. Thanks mainstream media, you’re doing a great job of burying this critical story, as always.” The Congress and the BJP have indulged in a slinging match over data theft and the use of services of Cambridge Analytica, accused of harvesting data from Facebook.
TAKING ON JD(S)
H e also hit out at the Janata Dal (Secular), and asked former prime minister HD Deve Gowda’s party to come clean on its support to the BJP. “JD(S), has to make it clear whether they are the BJP’s B team or not,” Gandhi said at a public meeting here in the Vokkaliga belt of the old Mysuru region, considered a JD(S) stronghold.
“They (JD-S) have to make it clear whether they are supporting the BJP, if yes, why? The JD(S) stands for ‘Janata Dal Sangh Parivar’,” he added. The Congress president, who is in the fourth round of campaigning in poll-bound Karnataka, is currently touring the old Mysuru region, where the Vokkaliga community has a significant presence. The JD(S) enjoys the support of the Vokkaligas.
Later, Rahul and his mother Sonia Gandhi handed over a ‘chadar’ to a delegation of party leaders for offering at the dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti.