Congress on back foot after BJP's data theft charge, deletes its app from play store

The Congress and the BJP on Monday engaged in a war of words on the issue of data sharing with Rahul Gandhi dubbing Prime Minister Narendra Modi the "Big Boss who likes to spy on Indians" and the ruling party accusing the opposition party of "theft".

Congress President Rahul Gandhi.

NEW DELHI: The Congress and the BJP on Monday engaged in a war of words on the issue of data sharing with Rahul Gandhi dubbing Prime Minister Narendra Modi the "Big Boss who likes to spy on Indians" and the ruling party accusing the opposition party of "theft". Rahul Gandhi claimed that Modi's app also tracked the location of users through GPS. "Now he wants data on our children. 13 lakh NCC cadets are being forced to download the App," said Rahul Gandhi. The BJP, however, rubbished the charge and alleged that the Congress chief was speaking a "lie".

Modi’s NaMo App secretly records audio, video, contacts of your friends & family and even tracks your location via GPS.

He’s the Big Boss who likes to spy on Indians. Now he wants data on our children. 13 lakh NCC cadets are being forced to download the APP.#DeleteNaMoApp — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 26, 2018

Hitting out at Gandhi, BJP's IT cell in-charge Amit Malviya said it was his party's app that was sharing user data with his friends 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," Malviya said. "Full marks to Congress 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!" Malviya tweeted.

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! pic.twitter.com/FCSIv6nPMn

— Amit Malviya (@malviyamit) March 26, 2018

The Congress party appears to have taken their app 'With INC' from Google PlayStore. A cursory search for the app on Apple App Store also fails to throw up any results for the Congress app. French security researcher Baptiste Robert, who is known by his Twitter username Elliot Alderson, also put out a tweet saying, "Did @INCIndia removed their #android #app from the PlayStore just before my tweet?"

Did @INCIndia removed their #android #app from the PlayStore just before my tweet?

— Elliot Alderson (@fs0c131y) March 26, 2018

Earlier in the day, Robert had tweeted, "The IP address of http://membership.inc.in is 52.77.237.47. This server is located in Singapore. As you are an #Indian political party, having your server in #India is probably a good idea."

The IP address of https://t.co/t1pidQUmtq is 52.77.237.47. This server is located in Singapore. As you are an #Indian political party, having your server in #India is probably a good idea. pic.twitter.com/tbspCtOPfB

— Elliot Alderson (@fs0c131y) March 26, 2018

Malviya said Rahul has given a call to delete Narendra Modi app, but now Congress has deleted its own App from the play store after they were called out.

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? pic.twitter.com/nAJTDAMmoc

— Amit Malviya (@malviyamit) March 26, 2018

Union Minister Smriti Irani also mocked at the Congress for deleting its own app.

Now that we're talking tech, would you care to answer @RahulGandhi ji why Congress sends data to Singapore Servers which can be accessed by any Tom, Dick and Analytica? pic.twitter.com/U5YLTckBsf

— Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) March 26, 2018

The Congress chief had on Sunday attacked Modi over allegations of data sharing from his official app without users' consent. Gandhi also accused the media of "burying" the story. His attack on the prime minister was based on a media report in which a French vigilante hacker has purportedly alleged that data was stolen from his official NaMo app without the consent of the users. "Hi! My name is Narendra Modi. I am India's Prime Minister. When you sign up for my official App, I give all your data to my friends in American companies," he had tweeted.

Hi! My name is Narendra Modi. I am India's Prime Minister. When you sign up for my official App, I give all your data to my friends in American companies.

Ps. Thanks mainstream media, you're doing a great job of burying this critical story, as always.https://t.co/IZYzkuH1ZH — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 25, 2018