A Consumer-Friendly Way to Secure Your Privacy

As summer vacations draw to a close, many of you must already have booked train or flight tickets to escape the heat and enjoy the much-needed downtime. In this scenario, wouldn’t you be worried if the data you share with the booking sites become public? One such instance came to fore when the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, or IRCTC, temporarily blocked the services of Bajaj Allianz and Liberty General Insurance in late May. The popular booking site, which has a monopoly in train ticket bookings, made this move after discovering a vulnerability on the insurance companies’ website. This weak spot was putting passengers’ personal data, including their name, gender, age, journey details, contact number, and the name of the insurance nominee at considerable risk.    

‍

Both the insurance companies were associated with IRCTC for policy purposes and offered travel cover to passengers booking train and flight tickets from the site. Researchers Avinash Jain and Aseem Shrey are behind the troubling discovery and, according to Jain, “Within just a few minutes, thousands of passengers' details were on our screens. The simplicity of this vulnerability and its impact makes it highly critical. We could have access to millions of passengers' information in a few hours." Given that about 1.2 million train tickets are booked on IRCTC each day, the vulnerability could lead to a potential landmine for miscreants and fraudsters looking to con passengers. 

Even as the insurers are taking strong steps to resolve the matter, IRCTC and cyber-activists are focused on ensuring that this issue doesn’t arise in the future. This immediate action by IRCTC indicates the underlying privacy concerns that laypeople have to deal with, when securing transport options through online bookings. The government is also taking proactive steps to prevent data misuse but is it alright to sit back and let the regulators and companies find the solution? Don’t you want to make sure that your personal data stays safe and sound while the authorities figure out the nitty gritty? 

One simple and efficient way to secure your privacy is to get virtual phone numbers like the ones provided by Doosra. Virtual numbers protect your data by keeping your personal number absolutely private. Once you get a virtual number, you can input the same whenever a booking site asks you to enter your phone number to receive OTPs and other details. This prevents fraudsters from accessing your personal number, and the data linked to it, like your PAN, Aadhar, and bank details. In simple terms, Doosra virtual numbers act as the consumer-friendly way to securing your privacy and safeguarding your data.   

‍

It is true that there are almost no online platforms which allow you to make purchases or access services without sharing your number. And is there anyone among us who can really make do without subscribing to online platforms? Well, now you need not concern yourself because, when you have a Doosra virtual number at your beck and call, you can share your digits and still stay safe from prying eyes and fraudsters.