CoWin data leak on Telegram channel alleged; Centre says portal ‘safe’

In a brief but evidently sizeable data breach, the information of hundreds of thousands of Indians who received the Covid vaccine was allegedly leaked on a Telegram channel. According to several reports, crucial information like a person’s phone number registered on the CoWin portal of the Union Ministry of Health, gender, ID card information, and date of birth were leaked on Telegram. It could be retrieved from a Telegram bot by entering a person’s name.

According to media reports, the Telegram bot could throw up personal information of significant personalities, including Telangana’s Minister of Information and Communication Technology Kalvakuntla Taraka Rama Rao (popularly known as KTR),