Personal data in mobiles is not secure. Central Government has given notice to 21 mobile manufacturing companies in this matter.

India has 30 crore smart phone users. Central government has questioned 21 smart phone companies about the security of users’ personal data in their instruments. This step has been taken by the government after a 6 month probe into the matter. The 21 mobile companies who have been issued notice have to give a clear picture of the security arrangements for the user data in their mobile instruments. The dead line for this clarification is 28^th August 2017. Electronics and Information technology Ministry has sent notices to Apple, Samsung, Micromax, Vivo, Oppo, Shaomi and Gionee apart from some other companies. Most of the companies are Chinese. Based on response of the companies, the ministry will initiate verification and audit of devices wherever required. It has also warned of penalties under provisions of IT Act 43 (A) in case stipulated processes are not followed.

The important user information under threat is as follows:

• Contact list- As discovered in the probe, contact list of a user is actually sold off to advertising companies and tele-callers. The list is also used for blackmailing purposes.
• Location- Users are watched based on location through mobiles. This information is extremely dangerous from security point of view. Criminals can make use of this information for kidnapping or other such activities which can prove fatal for user.
• Message – Messaging applications collect user info. Hackers can use this data for evil purposes.
• Photos- personal photos of a user can be easily misused. They can be conveniently used for blackmailing purposes.

Anti-virus company Symantec says that more than 36 percent applications have some or the other virus. Instead of storing information and photographs in smart phones, it is recommended that users store them elsewhere. The test that has been carried out on smart phones will also be carried out on machines used in medical tests. Since this is big attack on privacy, we recommend that you share this information as much as possible for the safety of your loved ones.

Inputs from bhaskarnews and business-standard.com