At least one central government ministry and multiple Indian state government departments currently expose the personal information of thousands of Indian citizens through their websites – information that shouldn’t actually be available so freely, alleged a report in The Wire on 23 March.
The personal data in question, in some cases, includes names, addresses, date of birth, Aadhaar card numbers, PAN card details, religion and caste. All of this information, which should be securely and safely stored, is available in the form of Microsoft Excel sheets and can be obtained by a simple Google search.
This issue was first pointed out by Twitter user St_Hill, who posted an article detailing the dangers of identity theft and how personal data is improperly stored.
Much of the personal information stored online corresponds with various central government and state government schemes. Departments run a number of initiatives that require the personal details of beneficiaries – in some cases including bank details, Aadhaar numbers and PAN card details – and then store them in the form of online spreadsheets on their websites.
The Wire is still in the process of confirming the authenticity of this data, which involves getting in touch with the people who are most likely unaware that their personal data is public, and will update this story accordingly.