Pinarayi Vijayan denies allegation of COVID-19 data leakage

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has dismissed the allegations of leakage of data regarding COVID-19 patients in the state.

Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala had on Friday alleged that the LDF government had entrusted a US company with the task of collecting the data regarding the virus infected patients and that it was a violation of their fundamental rights.

The data, collected using government machinary, was being uploaded not in the government server but in that of the foreign company, Chennithala had said.

“This was not a PR company as was alleged. No money was given to them for the services being rendered. It is an NRK- run company which is helping the state,” Vijayan told reporters here.

The data would be on an Indian server, Vijayan said and dismissed the allegation of leakage.

Chennithala had slammed the government saying that such secret data is considered as ‘protected health information’ by other countries and handing it over to a foreign private agency was a “serious” issue, he said.

“The ward-level committees, set up by the government for the anti-coronavirus fight, was collecting information in this regard and uploading it in the server of the private agency,” the Congress leader had alleged.