In what appears to be a face-saving exercise hours after the BJP accused it of leaking user data, the Congress party on Monday deleted its official smartphone application from Google Play Store.
The Indian National Congress (INC) app which was available in the Play Store till morning disappeared post noon following allegations by the BJP that it was leaking details of its users to Maoists, stone pelters and even the Chinese.
Head of the Information Technology (IT) cell of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Amit Malviya said: “Rahul Gandhi gave a call to #DeleteNaMoApp, but Congress deleted its own App from the App store after they were called out. What is the Congress party hiding?”
“INC membership website no longer available. Message you will get “We are incorporating minor changes to the website. Please visit us again in a while to access the INC membership process…” What is the Congress party trying to hide?”
Earlier in the day, Malviya had said that the Congress was sharing the data with “friends” of Rahul Gandhi in Singapore.
“Hi! My name is Rahul Gandhi. I am the President of India’s oldest political party. When you sign up for our official App, I give all your data to my friends in Singapore,” tweeted Malviya along with a screenshot of the ‘With INC’ app with its location in Singapore.
In another screenshot, Malviya highlighted how the Congress had under its privacy policy, mentioned that it may share user data with organisations, consultants for making the use of website effective.
“Full marks to @INCIndia for stating upfront that they’ll give your data to **practically anyone** – undisclosed vendors, unknown volunteers, even ‘groups with similar causes’. In theft of all forms, Congress has never been discreet!” he said.
“When Congress says they will share your data with like-minded groups, the implications are grave. From Maoists, stone pelters, Bharat Ke Tukde Gang, Chinese embassy to globally ‘renowned’ orgs like Cambridge Analytica, the field is extensive and wide open,” Malviya added.
Malviya went on to attack Sonia Gandhi as well.
“Inspired by Sonia Gandhi’s all power no accountability dictum, Congress will take all your data, even share it worldwide with orgs like Cambridge Analytica but will not take responsibility of it! Their own policy says so,” he said.
Malviya’s attack had come a day after Rahul Gandhi on Sunday shared a link to a report about a French cybersecurity researcher’s recent allegations that the Narendra Modi app shares registered users’ data with a US-based behavioral analytics company.