Blogger accuses Bharti Airtel of privacy breach

A blogger and information activist Thejesh GN has accused Bharti Airtel of injecting lines of code into users’ web browsers, a move that raises privacy concerns. According to the blogger, the code is inserted when users visit a web page using the GSM operator’s 3G network.

The blogger also posted the codes on the GitHub, web-based Git repository hosting service. Even though it raises a privacy flag, it was not immediately clear what these codes were for.

Airtel, on its part, said this is a standard solution deployed by telecom companies globally to help their customers keep track of their data usage in terms of mega bytes used.

“It is therefore meant to improve customer experience and empower them to manage their usage. One of our network vendor partners has piloted this solution through a third party to help customers understand their data consumption in terms of volume of data used. As a responsible corporate, we have the highest regard for customer privacy and we follow a policy of zero tolerance with regard to the confidentiality of customer data,” it said in a statement.

“We are also surprised at the cease and desist notice served by Flash Networks to Thejesh GN, and categorically state that we have no relation, whatsoever, with the notice,” it added.

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