Centre denies reports claiming CoWIN data breach, says Covid-19 information safe on digital platform

The Indian government has refuted media reports claiming that personal data, stored on the CoWIN platform, of thousands of Indians, were leaked online.

New Delhi: The Indian government, on Friday (January 21), refuted media reports claiming that personal data, stored on the CoWIN platform, of thousands of Indians, were leaked online.  

In a statement, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare said, “Regarding data leak from CoWIN - We are getting the matter examined. However, prima facie it appears that the alleged leak is not related to Co-WIN as we neither collect any information on address or the #COVID19 status of beneficiaries.” 

Meanwhile, the Indian government clarified that no data has leaked from Co-WIN portal and the entire data of residents is safe and secure on this digital platform. 

There have been several media reports claiming that the data stored in Co-WIN portal has been leaked online. It is clarified that no data has leaked from Co-WIN portal and the entire data of residents is safe and secure on this digital platform: Government of India pic.twitter.com/rOAhTrTW9m — ANI (@ANI) January 21, 2022

“It is also clarified that while Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare will enquire into the substance of the news, prima facie the assertion is not correct,as Co-WIN collects neither the address of the person nor the RT-PCR test results for #COVID19 vaccination,” the government added. 

Earlier in the day, reports have claimed that leaked data has been put on sale on Raid Forums website where a cybercriminal claimed to have personal data of over 20,000 people. Also Read: AGS Transact Tech IPO subscribed over 8 times: Check latest GMP, expected listing price

Cyber Security researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia had also tweeted that personally identifiable information (PII) including name and Covid-19 results are made public through a content delivery network (CDN). Also Read: Vodafone Idea Q3 FY22 loss widens to Rs 7,231 crore