JOIN USCOVID-19: Concerns over privacy after dept uploads details of quarantined
Amid concerns that the government has compromised the privacy of over 21,000 people who are advised home quarantine across the state by releasing a list containing their details, officials of the Department of Health and Family Welfare said the move was deliberate and there was no data breach.
The documents uploaded by the government provides details like date of arrival, quarantine period advised, origin of journey, final destination, house/door number, street, taluk, district and the pin code. In case of apartments, the flat number and name of the apartment is also available. However, personal details, like names and contact numbers, are not provided.
Some people have raised objection over the data being available as public document and alleged the same as data breach, but officials of the department said, “It was released by the government to build social pressure.”
Officials explained that the data was kept as secret for a few weeks, but government took the decision to release it to the public following several cases where people advised for home quarantine were seen roaming around.
“We got calls on 104 helpline from public complaining about such persons roaming the streets and other public places. Considering this, the department has decided to make it the document public,” said a senior official of the department.
Department of Health and Family Welfare Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey said, “We have pro-actively made details of pax (passengers) public without name and mobile number. We have just given the address, date of arrival, port of arrival. This is available on our website. This is to build social pressure on the home quarantined passengers. This is as per the decision taken by government.”
However, some activists felt that the data of home quarantined, which is available as a public document, may lead to social boycott of the Covid-19 patients/suspects and their families.
Some people took to the twitter and the Facebook accounts to demand the government to withdraw the list which is available in public, and also requested to stop circulating the same.