Key Points
The Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), operating under the Union home ministry, has directed the cessation of unauthorized usage of Indian citizens' Permanent Account Numbers (PAN) by financial technology companies and other consumer tech firms, informed sources told ET...
The government is taking stringent action against technology companies' unauthorized handling of personal data as it moves forward with implementing the Digital Private Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP)...
Based on information from three industry experts, numerous firms accessed customers' personal information, including full names, addresses, phone numbers, and other details by utilizing their PAN numbers through Income Tax department's backend systems..
Several industry sources indicated that this unauthorized service was widely used by various financial entities, including consumer lending platforms, loan sourcing channels, direct sales agents, and credit aggregators, though identifying specific companies is challenging as these practices were part of their internal operations...
An executive mentioned earlier suggested these actions align with the government's broader initiative to eliminate unauthorized access to Indian citizens' Personal Identifiable Information (PII), which will be examined thoroughly after data protection rules are implemented...
