In India, the privacy of digital payments is non-existent

On social media, Razorpay has been the subject of negative reactions and threats of boycott for sharing donor data without first informing Alt News. “Many donors and fundraisers said they would no longer use Razorpay, and I initially got the same reaction“Roy said, adding that it is possible that other companies would also have succumbed to police pressure.

In a statement published on TwitterRazorpay, without quoting Alt News, stated that the data shared with the police were “limit yourself to what was within the scope of the investigation“. Harshil Mathur, chief executive of Razorpay, added on Twitter that the police were trying to “determine whether or not there had been foreign donations“, and that neither social security numbers nor donor addresses were shared. Razorpay did not respond to a request for comment from Wired UKwhile Alt News co-founder Pratik Sinha refused a similar request.

Privacy does not exist

Indian police obtained the data from Razorpay under Article 91 of the Local Criminal Procedure Code, which allows authorities to request documents or data related to an ongoing investigation. Several criminal law attorneys have stated a Wired UK that the law gives the police considerable flexibility, allowing excessive use or abuse.

“Article 91 allows the police to submit any request for information to any person as part of an investigation, and is a standard investigative tool – explains Abhinav Sekhri, criminal lawyer from New Delhi -. Companies routinely receive similar inquiries, which come at a high price, since there are consequences for non-compliance. Sometimes they have no choice“These consequences may include criminal prosecution and potentially imprisonment measures against the executives involved, explains Sekhri.

Meanwhile, financial tech pundits argue that even if Razorpay did not succumb to the request to hand over Alt News data, the police could have obtained them from other operators in the payments sector. “Source and destination information is stored throughout the supply chain – says Srikanth Lakshmanan, researcher who heads Cashless Consumer, a collective that works to raise consumer awareness on digital payments in India -. Razorpay is not alone in storing this information, including card issuer, receiving bank and payment network. [conservano i dati, ndr]”.

The extensive data collection and sharing activity in the country can give the impression that privacy in digital payments is next to impossible in India: “The state of digital payment privacy in India is non-existent“, says Lakshmanan. While the ease with which digital data can be shared and disclosed complicates privacy issues around the world, India’s centralized biometric identification system, known as Aadhaar, can add further vulnerability, Lakshmanan explains: “It is easy to look for more information in India, where there is a whole range of datasets linked together, resulting in a much richer profile.“.

This article originally appeared on Wired UK.