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Ask Dr. D: Why revealing biometric details is not unsafe

Recently, easy availability of biometric details has been the talk of the town.

By ET Bureau |
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Dear Dr D,
I have triumphed in my OPEN challenge to you, your readers and all others who think that revealing biometric details is unsafe. There’s no problem, okay? Here’s the proof and my full disclosure of what has happened since.

- Someone deposited Rs 1 into my account. Is that damaging me? Of course not!? Send more I say!


- A mobile phone was ordered COD to my house. Was that a problem? Of course not!! I had needed a new phone anyway!? It was useful (only problem was that I didn’t have cash at home and online wasn’t working because my Aadhar card was blocked)

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The Facebook leak was traced back to Aleksandr Kogan, an academic at Cambridge university. Here is the root of other such worldwide breaches. (Image: Twitter/@AleksandrBKogan)
In 2012, companies like Visa Inc licensee, J C Penney Co, JetBlue Airways Corp and French retailer Carrefour SA were attacked by hackers, resulting in a collective loss of up to $300 million. A Russian and Ukrainian gang hacked into the records for over seven years, breaching 8,00,000 bank accounts and stealing more than 160 million credit and debit card numbers. While his colleagues did the hacking, 32-year-old Russian Roman Kotov was charged with mining the data.
In 2012, companies like Visa Inc licensee, J C Penney Co, JetBlue Airways Corp and French retailer Carrefour SA were attacked by hackers, resulting in a collective loss of up to $300 million. A Russi..
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While eBay’s database was hacked earlier in 2014, the news came out only in May that year. The online auction house went into damage control. Its then CEO John Donahue asked 145 million users to change their passwords, but said that financial information was stored separately and hence, remained safe. One mind boggling detail is that the unknown hackers had access to eBay’s accounts for 229 days.
While eBay’s database was hacked earlier in 2014, the news came out only in May that year. The online auction house went into damage control. Its then CEO John Donahue asked 145 million users to chan..
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In 2007, more than 94 million customer accounts belonging to the department store group TJX were compromised. The man behind it, Albert Gonzalez, was also indicted in the Heartland Payment’s data breach, where hackers stole more than 130 million credit and debit card numbers from the payment processing system in 2008. College dropout Gonzalez used several screen names like ‘soupnazi’ (a reference to the popular Seinfeld episode), ‘kingchilli’ and ‘cumbajohny’ in the TJX hack. While Gonzalez was arrested in a Miami hotel, officials found $1.6 million in cash hidden in plastic bags in a drum buried at his parent’s backyard. The soupnazi was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2010.
In 2007, more than 94 million customer accounts belonging to the department store group TJX were compromised. The man behind it, Albert Gonzalez, was also indicted in the Heartland Payment’s data bre..
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The personal records of over 78 million customers were stolen in 2015 from American health insurance giant Anthem. Investigators suspected China’s role in the breach. Apparently, the hack happened in 2014, when just one user at an Anthem subsidiary opened a phishing email. It gave access to the company’s warehouse. In 2017, Anthem reached a settlement of $115 million — the money will reportedly be used to pay for an additional two years of credit monitoring for the breach’s victims.
The personal records of over 78 million customers were stolen in 2015 from American health insurance giant Anthem. Investigators suspected China’s role in the breach. Apparently, the hack happened in..
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Literally every single Yahoo user account was hacked into. In September 2017, Yahoo confirmed that all of its three billion accounts were exposed as part of an August 2013 breach. In a separate incident in 2016, a hacker called Peace put up the company’s user information for sale in the darknet market site, The RealDeal. The news affected Verizon’s takeover of the company, knocking off $350 million from the sale price. Verizon bought out Yahoo in June 2017.
Literally every single Yahoo user account was hacked into. In September 2017, Yahoo confirmed that all of its three billion accounts were exposed as part of an August 2013 breach. In a separate incid..
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See More SlideshowsMore Slideshows


- My mobile number was leaked and I got 43,000 messages and calls and couldn’t use the phone at all for work. Was that an issue??!! No!! Because I got a new phone (see above). And I was able to activate new SIM using Aadhar also!!?

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- My fingerprints and retinal scan has been used by an artist. But so what?! It makes me even more famous.

- My DOB has been changed online so I probably may not get to vote. But so what?! We all know who is going to win!!?

Haters gonna hate, Doc. Can they not see how secure it all is? What do you say!!?
Mrs Sharma,
PS: I am sending this through my wife’s email id as mine was hacked and taken over.

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Dear Mr/Mrs Sharma,
I was in two minds about this. Till now. Thank you for doing this.


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