(with inputs from Aroon Deep)

Last night, a website called Magicapk.com went online, allowing anyone to search for user identification data (Know Your Customer; KYC) of Reliance Jio customers. It had the following kyc information: Name, Mobile Number, Email address, Date of activation, Circle and Aadhaar number, but thankfully, the Aadhaar information was redacted.

MediaNama independently verified this data for multiple Jio numbers, and the data was accurate for these numbers. Numbers for other telecom operators did not work. Several users have also uploaded screenshots of actual data online, which we won’t be linking to.

Jio is in denial

Reliance Jio, however, has sent us a statement, saying that these are “unverified and unsubstantiated claims”, and “the data appears to be unauthentic”.

Frankly, given that we verified the data for multiple users, as have others, this claim is simply not true. Some users are reporting that data for newer numbers is not available. Update: Do check Troy Hunt’s “The 5 stages of Data Breach Grief“.

The website was taken down by its hosting provider yesterday shortly after 11pm.

However, that doesn’t mean that the data has not been leaked, nor does it mean that the data can still be made available online. Whoever has this data can easily create another random website, and put the same site up. The breach appears to be real.

Jio is yet to respond to the following questions 1. How is the user data stored by Jio

2. Whether the data is encrypted when stored and if yes, what kind of encryption.

3. Whether data is encrypted when being transmitted from retailers to jio.

4. Do you store Aadhaar numbers or merely use authentication to validate credentials.

5. How could this data have leaked, in your opinion.

6. What steps is Jio planning to take to address this issue

7. Whether you have alerted CERT-IN about this data leak

8. How many people have access to the unencrypted customer database.

Jio used the Aadhaar KYC process for authenticating users, and this is something which all telecom operators are going to do, following a DoT directive based on a flawed reading of a Supreme Court of India ruling. Hence the question about the encryption of the data in transit: what happens to Aadhaar data once it leaves the UIDAI, and into private hands?

We’ve written to Jio again requesting a response to these specific questions, instead of a boilerplate denial sent to everyone.

User Rights

Note that even if Aadhaar numbers have been leaked, users will have no right to take Jio or the person who took the data, to court. Under the Aadhaar Act, you have no rights over your personal data, and only the UIDAI does.

India doesn’t have a privacy law, but a data protection law is believed to be in the works. Meanwhile, the Indian government has argued in the Supreme Court that privacy isn’t a fundamental right.

Magicapk.com

The website was registered two months ago, and the individual who registered the domain has apparently chosen not to make their identity public. A previous version of the website cached last month by Google shows a simple message: “coe back soon [sic]”.

Jio’s full statement We have come across the unverified and unsubstantiated claims of the website and are investigating it. Prima facie, the data appears to be unauthentic. We want to assure our subscribers that their data is safe and maintained with highest security. Data is only shared with authorities as per their requirement. We have informed law enforcement agencies about the claims of the website and will follow through to ensure strict action is taken.

(Updates: Added a question, based on a recommendation via twitter from @ahalam).