Inc42
Media: Delhi: Monday, September 16, 2019.
- Response to an RTI enquiry revealed the names of the companies that purchased data
- 25 Cr vehicle registration records and 15 Cr driver licences were sold as part of the data
- 30 public and private banks also among the buyers
The
Indian government has sold data from the citizen Vahan database, vehicle
registration data which comprises 25 Cr vehicle registration records, along
with Sarathi database of 15 Cr driving licences to over 140 private companies
and public institutions.
The
data is managed by the ministry of road transport and highways. Transport
minister Nitin Gadkari had revealed the sale of this data on July 8. However,
the list of buyers has come out in the public now. These buyers range from
automobile and cab hailing services to private banks and public banks,
including Mercedes, Ola, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, RTI filed by
Medianama revealed.
Out
of the 142 companies, 127 are private companies and 15 are government bodies.
The breakup includes 30 public and private banks, 19 financial organisation, 20
logistics companies and five major automobile manufacturers.
The
automobile sector, who bought these data, include some big names such as
Mercedes, Toyota, Volkswagen, Nissan and BMW India Finance and Tata Finance. On
the other hand, Axis Bank, Punjab National Bank, YES Bank, State Bank of India
(SBI), ICICI Bank and Citibank, among others are some of the banks using the
data.
Related
Article: Indian Govt Is Selling Vehicle Owner Data To Companies And Citizens
Don’t Have A Clue
Buying
Data Since 2014
The
government has been selling the data from 2014, even though the bulk data
sharing policy was updated on March 2019. The policy is applicable to 28
different details of data related to vehicle registration certificate and
driving licences. Any company, whose 50% shares are owned by Indian citizens,
is eligible to purchase the data from the government for INR 3 Cr in the fiscal
year 2019-2020.
Under
the policy, the bulk data will be revealed in an encrypted format and can be
accessed only through a public key of the purchasing organisation. The
organisations or companies acquiring this data are required to carry out
security audits.
Any
misuse of the data will be liable for any permissible action under IT Act and
any other applicable law. In addition, these companies will be barred from
using this data for a period of three years.
The
Cost Of Driver And Vehicle Data
In
2014, the government has earned INR 600 Cr through the sale of the database,
which was the year when the sale was officially started.
The
RTI response also revealed that the government has made INR 68 Cr by selling
access to the database between 2014 and 2019. This year alone, the government
managed to make INR 21 Cr.
Privacy
Concerns
It
is unclear if the government has taken consent from citizens before selling the
driver and vehicle data. Last year, Justice BN Srikrishna Committee report on
the draft Personal Data Protection Bill 2018 had defined “personal data” and
“sensitive data”.
According
to the definition, any data of a natural person which allows “direct or indirect
identifiability” is personal data. Sensitive personal data includes financial
data, biometric data, religious and political leaning, etc.
The
data currently shared by the ministry comes under personal data, and it is
still not clear what information has been shared with the buyers, and to what
extent it has been used.