PMO Takes Jibe at Congress Chief Rahul Gandhi Over Tweet on Narendra Modi App, Says Congress Has no Knowledge of Technology

The statement came after Gandhi accused PM of data breach via his official app to US firms.

New Delhi, Mar 25: The Prime Minister Office (PMO) on Sunday issued a statement over allegation of security breach of Aadhaar data by Narendra Modi (NaMo) App. Hitting out at Congress President Rahul Gandhi and the Congress, the PMO said that the Opposition party has zero knowledge of technology.

The statement came after Gandhi, in his tweets, accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of data breach via his official Narendra Modi app to US firms.

Gandhi had written in his tweet, “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.”

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.

Ps. Thanks mainstream media, you’re doing a great job of burying this critical story, as always.https://t.co/IZYzkuH1ZH

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 25, 2018

However, in the statement, PMO has said that the data exposed by the French Twitter user is the data entered by the user on his own device. This is not a security breach. The person does not have access to any data apart from his own data.

In the tweet, Gandhi was referring to a media report which says that a French security, named Elliot Alderson (@fs0c131y), has claimed that Narendra Modi app is allegedly sharing private information of users to a third-party US company Clever Tap without their consent.

When you create a profile in the official @narendramodi #Android app, all your device info (OS, network type, Carrier …) and personal data (email, photo, gender, name, …) are send without your consent to a third-party domain called https://t.co/N3zA3QeNZO. pic.twitter.com/Vey3OP6hcf

— Elliot Alderson (@fs0c131y) March 23, 2018

Meanwhile, hitting back at Gandhi, Union Minister KJ Alphons refuted reports and asked not to believe on this kind of fake news.

What is given in #Aadhaar are just name & address. Your bio-metric data is with UIDAI and let me assure you that it has not been breached, its absolutely secure. We have given authorisation to govt agencies to access #Aadhaar information: Union Minister KJ Alphons in Trivandrum pic.twitter.com/C9znR1eJLR

— ANI (@ANI) March 25, 2018

You think Prime Minister is going to give your data to a private company! Don’t believe such fake stories: KJ Alphons, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology in #Trivandrum pic.twitter.com/Zl59ooKOPn

— ANI (@ANI) March 25, 2018

The controversy erupted after a Twitter war broke out between BJP law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Congress President Rahul Gandhi. The BJP has accused Congress of compromising national security by roping in political data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica to run its 2019 election campaign.

Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had alleged that the Congress resorted to data theft and data manipulation to win elections and questioned the role of the Cambridge Analytica in the social media management of Congress and party president Rahul Gandhi’s social media accounts.

Mr. Rahul Gandhi, the notice given to Cambridge Analytica for Data Manipulation has naturally worried you. Angry, frustrated and apprehensive, you are now dragging the judiciary. Deeply reprehensible.

— Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) March 24, 2018

Legal system collapsing under Pending Cases:

Supreme Court
55,000 +

High Court
37 Lakh +

Lower Courts
2.6 Crore +

Yet, a staggering 400 High Court and 6,000 Lower Court judges not appointed, while Law Minister preoccupied peddling fake news. #JudiciaryDemonetised pic.twitter.com/qSpKcIuPKW

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 24, 2018

In defense, the Congress called Prasad a “minister of lies”, and asked the BJP that if Cambridge Analytica was involved in stealing data, then why did it take its services and whether it would register an FIR against CA and its Indian arm Ovleno Business Intelligence (OBI).