Reshmi AR

If Cambridge Analytica made it to the headlines across the world for data theft which it subsequently passed on to Facebook, TDP's Seva Mitra App has done the same with respect to personal information of 3.5 crore AP voters, experts say.

In what is a gross violation of Supreme Court guidelines, the Seva Mitra app developed by Hyderabad based IT grids India PvT Ltd, in association with Blue Frog Technologies of Vizag, has placed personal information of AP citizens in public domain. The question is how did the AP government pass on sensitive information such as Voter ID number, Aadhaar number, bank account details, benefits under welfare scheme, caste, religion, address and such particulars to a small private firm? If the objective is not manipulation of electoral rolls in the guise of educating them on various welfare schemes offered by the TDP government, what is it?

This massive scam came to light after the Cyberabad police started probing a complaint lodged by a Kukatpally resident T Lokeshwar Reddy regarding data breach of his personal information by the TDP app Seva Mitra developed by IT Grids India located at Madhapur in Hyderabad. The revelation left people of both the states stunned, exposing Chandrababu Naidu's desperation to win the elections by resorting to such unconstitutional methods as data theft. What IT Grids India has done amounts to a criminal offence under several clauses of the constitution, including Sections 66 and 72 of the IT act, as working president of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), KTR rightly pointed out.

It may be recalled that Cambridge Analytica was accused of massive data theft by the UK/EU and US governments, as also Government of India subsequently. The firm was accused of passing sensitive information to Facebook and as a result, Mark Zuckerberg was summoned for questioning by a Congressional committee. Other Facebook officials faced the heat in Europe and the UK.

The Seva Mitra app has done something along identical lines in Andhra Pradesh and instead of acting on complaints of data theft, Chandrababu Naidu and his son IT Minister Nara Lokesh are pointing nervous fingers at the Telangana government claiming that it is trying to acquire data of voters of AP. It may be recalled here that for the past few months, Leader of Opposition in Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly and YSR Congress Party president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has been highlighting the manipulation of Electoral Rolls by deleting the names of those considered by the TDP to be sympathisers of YSRCP and adding bogus votes. YS Jagan led party delegation to the Central Election Commission in Delhi in this regard and submitted hard evidence on the TDP's mal-practices and how they were actively aided in these criminal acts by police and other officials. No wonder the worst fears of the AP voters have come true. It remains to be seen how this will play out in future.

Also Read: Massive Voter Data Breach By AP Government