Debashis Sarkar reports:
Airtel seems to be doing some serious firefighting after being accused of “spying” by Bengaluru-based programmer Thejesh GN. The company has accepted that it did inject a javascript into subscribers’ browsing sessions, a “standard solution” to help customers keep track of data usage.
“After Israeli firm Flash Network served a Cease and Desist notice to Thejesh, it is clear that Airtel has injected the said javascript. However, what this code does is yet to be confirmed,” says Prasanth Sugathan, counsel at donor-supported legal services organisation Software Freedom Law Centre India.
This “standard solution” is a breach of privacy in itself. While it is unclear whether the injected javascript helps in improving customer experience or is meant to record browsing history, the question is how the ISP can inject anything without the subscriber’s knowledge. “Once you have a javascript running on your browser, it can definitely track your browsing session. The intentions of this particular code is not known as javascripts are capable of achieving more than just pushing advertisements,” adds Sugathan.
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