A report by Avast, an internet security firm, suggests that apps stalking Indians grew by 20% during India’s lockdown over estimates for January and February. This compares with a 51% rise globally.
A report by Avast, an internet security firm, suggests that apps stalking Indians grew by 20% during India’s lockdown over estimates for January and February. This compares with a 51% rise globally. Before you conclude that India fared better, consider its other findings. Plenty of spyware was loaded onto mobile phones in the guise of covid apps. As many as three espionage tools sneaked in disguised as India’s official contact-tracing app, Aarogya Setu. In such cases, what phone users thought was meant for their safety turned out to be a device designed to obtain complete access to their phones, enabling the theft of data, the recording of calls, and much else.
It goes without saying that such a menace must be ended. If word spreads of Aarogya Setu being used as a cover for online stalking, then the actual app may begin to lose the public’s trust. Otherwise, too, the country needs to act against such horrors. These days, an individual’s bank account can be cleaned out by a data thief. Sadly, the absence of a data protection law means that legal redressal remains a grey zone. As a start, it’s time for India to grant citizens de jure ownership of their personal information.
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