Indians have no problem giving their fingerprints and “getting naked” for an American visa, but call it an “intrusion of privacy” when their own government asks for the same, Union Minister of State for Tourism KJ Alphons said on Sunday.
“I filled up to 10 pages for a United States visa form,” Alphons told ANI. “When your own government asks for your name and address, there is a massive revolution saying it is an intrusion in privacy.”
Alphons had made a similar statement during the Future Digital Summit in Kochi on Friday. Data privacy and surveillance are major concerns that petitions in the Supreme Court have raised against the Aadhaar biometric identification system.
Alphons also said that reports questioning privacy of data on the Narendra Modi Android application are “fake stories”. The application has been accused of sharing users’ private information with third party companies without their consent.
“You think the prime minister is going to give your data to a private company?” Alphons said. “Do not believe such fake stories. Let me assure you that it has not been breached, it is absolutely secure. We have given authorisation to government agencies to access Aadhaar information.”
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