In what could be a major threat for lakhs of rail commuters, former Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi has accused the government of misusing data collected from passengers by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and putting on hold its disinvestment.
Saying that it was a "threat to privacy", Trivedi said in Lok Sabha yesterday that this matter should be taken up urgently.
"Indian Railways has the biggest database in the world. And the government wants to tap the data that platform has collected. Privacy of Indian citizens must be protected. It is a threat to privacy as this data can be misused and manipulated," he told PTI.
He further said that this is the first instance of privatisation of citizen data by a government department, leaving data scientists and public concerned.
"This is a matter of grave importance and I urge the government to look into the matter as it is a threat to right to privacy and leads to data manipulation," said Trivedi.
IRCTC is one of the biggest e-commerce sites in the world. The Railway Ministry is working on a revamp plan before selling shares of IRCTC.
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It is a known fact that IRCTC database was leaked and the information of around one crore people was feared stolen, Trivedi alleged.
"I hope that the Supreme Court is also looking into the matter as the Aadhaar issue is still at the hearing stage," said Trivedi.