Twitter on the radar of parliamentary committee-IRCTC

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology has sent a summons to Twitter and the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). The committee headed by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday summoned top officials of both the companies on the issue of 'data security and privacy of citizens'. The Standing Committee will question the officials of Twitter and IRCTC in this regard.
Twitter can be questioned about the data privacy and security of users. At the same time, IRCTC can be inquired about the tender issued for monetizing the data of passengers.
Two days ago, former Twitter Security Chief Peter Jatko made serious allegations against the Indian government. He said the government forced the social media company to hire a man who was a "government agent". Its purpose was to access sensitive data of users.
However, Twitter said that this is a false story. Jatco was fired from the company in January this year. He had alleged that he was fired for pointing out flaws in Twitter. According to sources, the panel will question Twitter about its management. Along with this, it will also be asked whether the management has worked in favour of any particular political party or not.
IRCTC alleged that it is planning to earn money by selling the data of its passengers. IRCTC will earn 1000 crores from digital monetization. It is alleged that IRCTC, which has more than 100 million users, is about to appoint a consultant to monetize the data of customers and has also floated a tender for the same.
According to news agency PTI, this issue will be discussed in a meeting with IRCTC officials. According to the tender, the data to be studied includes all the details like names, numbers to address of the users. However, a senior IRCTC official had called the such reports fake. He said the company does not sell its data and has no intention of doing so.
The Central Government on August 3 withdrew the Personal Data Protection Bill. The government will instead bring a new bill for personal data protection in cyberspace. Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnav had proposed to withdraw the bill.
The Tharoor-led panel is holding meetings with tech companies, social media firms, and ministries on data security and privacy. This panel is due to submit its report before the end of the tenure of the committee on August 30.