New Delhi: Days after the official app of the Congress party vanished from the Google Play Store, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's app has gone missing.
This comes after a person on Twitter alleged that the app was selling personal data of the users to a private company.
On clicking the links that come up after a Google search, a message reads, "This content is not available in your country yet. We're working to bring the content you love to more countries as quickly as possible. Please check back again soon."
French security researcher Baptiste Robert, who is known by his Twitter username Elliot Alderson, said that the name, phone number, date of birth, gender of a user is sent to a private company.
"1/ People asked me if this tweet is true or not. Let's talk about this app," Alderson tweeted.
1/ People asked me if this tweet is true or not. Let's talk about this app. https://t.co/XuTWC0pm6r
— Elliot Alderson (@fs0c131y) March 29, 2018
"2/ Every time, I open the app I have this pop up: "Internet speed is too slow". As a consequence, I was unable to make a dynamic analysis and so confirm the tweet above," he said.
2/ Every time, I open the app I have this pop up: "Internet speed is too slow". As a consequence, I was unable to make a dynamic analysis and so confirm the tweet above. pic.twitter.com/fZT6Z7Ein9
— Elliot Alderson (@fs0c131y) March 29, 2018
In a series of tweet he said, "3/ I decompiled the app and found this code in the registration method. During the registration, the name, phone number, date of birth, gender of the user is send to http://citizenoutreachapp.in/api/register_user.php .."
3/ I decompiled the app and found this code in the registration method. During the registration, the name, phone number, date of birth, gender of the user is send to https://t.co/mYIwWi6Pf1. pic.twitter.com/PX2TdMAXnS
— Elliot Alderson (@fs0c131y) March 29, 2018
On March 26, the Congress party appeared to have taken their app 'With INC' off the Google Store. A cursory search for the app on Apple App Store also failed to throw up any results.
For those unversed, Cambridge Analytica (CA), the political data firm was exposed as stealing Facebook user's data.
The Congress party found itself in trouble after Chris Wylie, former director of research at CA and whistleblower of the whole scam, named the grand old party as one of the firm's clients in his disposition before the British parliament.
