On prime time television, late in the evening, the news about a large number of Android phone users of the country realising that a toll-free helpline number of the Unified Identification Authority of India(UIDAI) was saved in their 'list of contacts' was being talked about. Consequently, questions about privacy concerns started trending on social media.
Mr. Ravishankar Prasad, the IT Minister had come on the channels to allay the fears of the people and has promised to look into the matter. The UIDAI, as well as the telecom service providers have denied any involvement on their part.
Google has, since, clarified that it was at their end that the old 'Aadhaar' helpline was coded in devices, sometime in '14. This statement came minutes ahead of a vigilante hacker's speculation about the search engine giant's involvement!
There was a message, on What'sApp, from a friend of mine, which I reproduce here,
"Please check if a number starting from 1800 or 1600 in the name of UIDAI has been automatically added to your phone contacts. If yes, delete it immediately. It's a spam of the day. Source: Maharashtra Cyber Security."
I'd deleted the number from mine and Lekha's cellphones. I didn't even tell her lest I created a panic. And then, like a good citizen and friend, I'd passed on the message to all my friends and the numerous groups that I'm a member of. Almost everyone had reacted promptly and taken corrective action. But there are a few among us, who are the permanent doubting Thomases and here's a sample of the retorts that I had exchanged with this particular gentleman. I'd to be brutal for the message to sink in!
That friend of mine. "Whom to believe - Maharashtra Cyber Security or Google? This number was in my contact list, wife's contact list, niece and nephew's contact lists. None of us added it and we were not aware of its addition/existence".
Me. "It was discussed on television on prime time and the IT minister had come on the programme to allay the people's fears. You may take it or leave it. But just one query, how can one insert himself/herself/itself into another's list of contacts automatically? That's the owner's prerogative".
Tailpiece.
It's good to be abreast of technology but using it blindly, without understanding the pluses and the minuses can bring about unwanted results or situations. The prudent approach would be is to remain guarded at all times and use it for the correct purposes.
PS.
The three who have the capability of adding numbers to the contact list in mobiles other than the owners are:-
(a) Telecom service providers.
(b) Mobile manufacturers and
(c) Operating system providers like Google and Apple.
Mr. Ravishankar Prasad, the IT Minister had come on the channels to allay the fears of the people and has promised to look into the matter. The UIDAI, as well as the telecom service providers have denied any involvement on their part.
Google has, since, clarified that it was at their end that the old 'Aadhaar' helpline was coded in devices, sometime in '14. This statement came minutes ahead of a vigilante hacker's speculation about the search engine giant's involvement!
There was a message, on What'sApp, from a friend of mine, which I reproduce here,
"Please check if a number starting from 1800 or 1600 in the name of UIDAI has been automatically added to your phone contacts. If yes, delete it immediately. It's a spam of the day. Source: Maharashtra Cyber Security."
I'd deleted the number from mine and Lekha's cellphones. I didn't even tell her lest I created a panic. And then, like a good citizen and friend, I'd passed on the message to all my friends and the numerous groups that I'm a member of. Almost everyone had reacted promptly and taken corrective action. But there are a few among us, who are the permanent doubting Thomases and here's a sample of the retorts that I had exchanged with this particular gentleman. I'd to be brutal for the message to sink in!
That friend of mine. "Whom to believe - Maharashtra Cyber Security or Google? This number was in my contact list, wife's contact list, niece and nephew's contact lists. None of us added it and we were not aware of its addition/existence".
Me. "It was discussed on television on prime time and the IT minister had come on the programme to allay the people's fears. You may take it or leave it. But just one query, how can one insert himself/herself/itself into another's list of contacts automatically? That's the owner's prerogative".
Tailpiece.
It's good to be abreast of technology but using it blindly, without understanding the pluses and the minuses can bring about unwanted results or situations. The prudent approach would be is to remain guarded at all times and use it for the correct purposes.
PS.
The three who have the capability of adding numbers to the contact list in mobiles other than the owners are:-
(a) Telecom service providers.
(b) Mobile manufacturers and
(c) Operating system providers like Google and Apple.
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