Modi’s app ‘abusing people’s personal data’

ALLEGATIONS that the official mobile app of Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, has been sending personal data to a third party without consent has caused national outrage.

The claims, which follow the recent Cambridge Analytica controversy, caused a stir on Indian social media as well as drawing criticism from the opposition party on Sunday. The BJP, Mr Modi’s ruling party, has denied allegations and said the data had only been used for analytics to ensure all users had the “most contextual context”.

Mr Modi himself has refrained from making any comment.

Rahul Gandhi, leader of the opposition Congress party, accused Mr Modi of using his official app “to build a personal database ... on millions of Indians”. He tweeted “He’s the Big Boss who likes to spy on Indians”, referring to India’s version of TV show Big Brother.

Mr Gandhi did not comment on allegations that his own party had taken down a membership website and mobile app because of security flaws and allegations that it too was sharing people’s personal data. Earlier, a French security researcher flagged flaws with Mr Modi’s personal app.