Rajiv Mehrishi (Source: Express Photo by Prem Nath Pandey/File) Rajiv Mehrishi (Source: Express Photo by Prem Nath Pandey/File)

Questioned on possible threats to privacy with the linking of Aadhaar to various services, Rajiv Mehrishi, who retired as Union Home Secretary Thursday, told a parliamentary panel last month that 40 per cent of people who use smartphones and top applications, knowingly or unknowingly, share data with the entire world including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It is learnt that Mehrishi made this remark on July 21 when he appeared before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, chaired by senior Congress leader P Chidambaram.

Mehrishi, sources said, called the sharing of mobile data by private companies a nuisance. He was said to have referred to an American design of a timeline 2030. Mehrishi said fingerprints and biometrics were being captured and this had happened with 40 per cent of the population who owned smartphones. He replied in the affirmative when he was asked if it would be 100 per cent if every Indian started using a smartphone, sources said.

Mehrishi also flagged the dangers of data theft through use of applications, saying movement of people could be tracked through the day. Sources said Chidambaram, Union Home Minister in the previous UPA government, said if mobile phones of two persons were located in close proximity, it could be concluded that both were in the same room. He said this was how drone attacks were being carried out, sources said.

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