Kolkata: Voicing concern regarding the alleged leaking of personal information through WhatsApp, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure that no such breach of privacy takes place.
Talking to reporters after inaugurating Chhath Puja at Doi ghat on Saturday evening, she said: "Neither telephone nor cell phone or WhatsApp is safe. It is most unfortunate.
"The personal information of political leaders, human rights activists, senior police officers, bureaucrats, senior officials of media and even judges is being leaked out. This is a very serious state of affairs," she maintained.
Banerjee said after the office hours instructions need to be given to combat some emergency situations and these are passed on via WhatsApp. "Instructions to combat any emergency situation are given via WhatsApp. This has become a regular practice. But now, as the information gets leaked the Centre can easily get hold of the data. This cannot be allowed. I condemn this in the strongest language and seek the Prime Minister's intervention in the matter," she said.
The Chief Minister alleged that earlier her cell phone was being tapped. "I have definite proof that my phone was tapped by the Centre and some state governments," she added.
"The condition in the country is turning from bad to worse. We have freedom of speech and expression but now we have been shadowed by the Centre. No information is safe," she said.
Banerjee said she was told by someone that by installing a machine in a car the cell phone and WhatsApp data of users in the surrounding areas can be monitored.
"We had earlier heard about the tapping of telephones and cell phones and now if WhatsApp messages are being tapped and monitored then where can we go?" she wondered, adding: "This had never happened in the past."
It may be recalled that Banerjee had earlier said that the Centre had "Declared internal emergency in the country by curtailing the freedom of speech and expression of the citizens across the board."
It may be mentioned here that Union IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has assured that the Centre is committed to protect the privacy of Indian citizens.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) has asked all recognized Secondary Schools in the state to declare November 4, 2019 as a holiday for Chhath Puja. Schools have been instructed to remain closed and declare Monday (November 4) as an additional holiday.