CoWIN data leak! Health ministry refutes TMC spokesperson Saket Gokhale's CoWIN data breach claims

CoWIN data leak Telegram bot: After Trinmool Congress leader Saket Gokhale claimed that the data of all the beneficiaries registered on the CoWIN platform has been leaked online, health ministry today (June 12) said that reports claiming the breach of data were "without any basis".

The ministry further said that it had requested the country's nodal cyber security agency CERT-In to look into the issue and submit a report.

While asserting that the CoWIN portal is completely safe with adequate safeguards for data privacy, it said an internal exercise has been initiated to review the existing security measures of CoWIN.

"There are reports alleging breach of data from the Co-WIN portal of the Union health Ministry, which is repository of all data of beneficiaries who have been vaccinated against COVID19," the health ministry said in a statement.

"It is clarified that all such reports are without any basis and mischievous in nature. Co-WIN portal of Health Ministry is completely safe with adequate safeguards for data privacy," it said.

The ministry, however, said it had requested the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) to look into the issue and submit a report.

Personal information of all people, including prominent leader and journalist, have been leaked online, claimed Trinamool Congress leader Saket Gokhale. 

According to the Trinamool leader, personal details like mobile numbers, Aadhaar numbers, Passport, Voter IDs and details of family members are freely available online.

To validate his claims, he even shared some screenshots on Twitter. 

"There has been a MAJOR data breach of Modi Govt where personal details of ALL vaccinated Indians including their mobile nos., Aadhaar numbers, Passport numbers, Voter ID, Details of family members etc. have been leaked & are freely available," he tweeted today morning. 

SHOCKING:

There has been a MAJOR data breach of Modi Govt where personal details of ALL vaccinated Indians including their mobile nos., Aadhaar numbers, Passport numbers, Voter ID, Details of family members etc. have been leaked & are freely available.

Some examples 

(1/7)

— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) June 12, 2023

According to reports, when a mobile number registered with the CoWIN portal is entered, the Telegram bot will share all the details provided during the vaccination along with gender, birth year, name of the vaccination centre and doses.

They claimed that the Aadhaar card, voter ID, and PAN card numbers of Indian citizens are accessible to anyone on Telegram. 

It is to be noted that earlier there were reports that claimed the CoWIN portal was hacked.

The reports claimed that a database of 15 crore people was leaked online.

However, cyber security researchers denied the claim.

The National Health Authority (NHA) denied those claims saying the platform neither collects the address of people nor RT-PCR test results for vaccination.

The government heavily relied on digital technologies in terms of controlling and creating awareness about the coronavirus pandemic and also its vaccination programme.

Several government departments mandate people to use the Aarogya Setu app for COVID-19-related services and information.

(With inputs from PTI)