New Delhi, August 27, 2022 (PPI-OT):An Indian parliamentary panel has questioned the top Twitter officials over a whistle-blower’s revelations on its India operations, and gave them a dressing-down as their replies on issues of data security and privacy were “not satisfactory”.
According to Kashmir Media Service, former head of Twitter (security) Peiter Zatko’s maintained that the microblogging site knowingly allowed the Indian government to place its “agents” on the company payroll where they had “direct unsupervised access to the company’s systems and user data. Zatko’s allegations were reported by international media houses.
Top Twitter executives, including Senior Director (Public Policy) Samiran Gupta and Director (Public Policy) Shagufta Kamran, deposed before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology chaired by senior Congress leader, Shashi Tharoor. The panel questioned them about the reports on Peiter Zatko’s allegations, Indian media quoting sources reported.
The members also questioned the social media giant’s officials if their data security policies are in sync with local policies and with the single global privacy policy. They asked how does the microblogging site handles conflicts in national privacy policies of different countries, with the sources saying the executives didn’t give satisfactory replies. They also evaded questions about data safety and privacy, a member said, following which they were reprimanded by the MPs.
The Tharoor-led panel has been holding meetings with various stakeholders including tech companies, social media firms, ministries and other regulators on the issue of citizens’ data security and privacy.
Besides Tharoor, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, Telangana Rashtra Samithi MP Ranjith Reddy, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Communist Party of India-Marxist’s John Brittas attended the meeting.
For more information, contact:
Kashmir Media Service
Phone: +92-51-4435548, +92-51-4435549
Fax: +92-51-4861736
Email: info@kmsnews.org
Website: www.kmsnews.org
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