NaMo-app: US-based analytics firm says it doesn't 'sell, rent' data
A US-based analytics firm that has been facing allegations of receiving personal data from the official mobile app of Prime Minister Narendra Modi without the consent of app users has said that it does not sell, rent or re-market data. Anand Jain, Co-founder of the California-based firm said, "CleverTap employees don't have access to any of the data stored with it by a publisher."
Indian-owned tech analytics firm faces heat after NaMo controversy
The five-year-old US-based startup founded by three Indians is facing the heat after a pseudonymous researcher alleged that Modi's app was pumping private information to servers controlled by the firm without the users' consent. The researcher, in a series of tweets, pointed the privacy lapses in the NaMo App and alleged that mobile marketing platform CleverTap was the beneficiary of the data transfer.
The researcher, who goes by the pseudonym Elliot Alderson tweeted
BJP rejects allegations about data leak by NaMo app
The BJP, however, said the permissions required are all contextual and cause-specific and that the data is being used for only analytics using third-party service. The party claimed the Narendra Modi app is unique and gives access to users in the guest mode without even any permission or data. "The permissions required are all contextual and cause-specific," BJP stated on its Twitter handle.
CleverTap works with first-party data provided by the app publisher
Jain without making any reference of the NaMo App, said, "Given the recent discussion over privacy, security, and the role of service providers such as CleverTap, we'd like to clarify our stand on security, user consent, and data privacy...CleverTap doesn't sell, share, rent, re-market, or do anything funny with publisher data." He said the company works with first-party data provided by the app publisher.
Data collected, shared is governed by publisher's privacy policy
"The data collected by the publisher and shared with a service provider is governed by the publisher's privacy policy. We neither control how publishers frame their privacy policies nor review them," Jain said. "We don't enhance or combine data from other sources at our end," he said, adding that CleverTap is the brand name, while WizRocket is the name of the parent company.
Clevertap is founded by three Indians
Founded in May 2013 by three Indians, Jain, Sunil Thomas, and Suresh Kondamudi, CleverTap is a behavioral analytics company and a mobile marketing platform that provides real-time insights to marketers. "At CleverTap, we believe in making our customers successful. Earning their trust is what we strive for and we realize that consent, privacy, and data security are critical milestones in this journey," Jain said.
