​Bharti Airtel allegedly caught spying on its 3G users

Indian multinational telecom company Bharti Airtel has been accused of injecting lines of code into its users' web browsers without their knowledge, whenever they visit a web page via its 3G network.

Thejesh GN, a Bengaluru-based information activist and programmer, has exposed how the telco injects Javascript code and iframes into a user's browsing session every time they visit a web page using Bharti Airtel’s 3G network, a Times of India report revealed.

As per the TOI report, Thejesh had also posted the code on the GitHub repository, but the file was removed after the web-based Git repository hosting service received a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) takedown notice.

The new daily stated that these scripts are even used for inserting advertisements into the webpage based on the user's browsing pattern. The tactic is clearly a violation of user consent as the code is inserted without his knowledge and even of Net Neutrality as the original content is altered.

However, Airtel rejected Thejesh’s claim by stating that the code is part of a tool it's working on to help users keep a track of their data consumption. As per a company spokesperson, “This is a standard solution deployed by telcos globally to help their customers keep track of their data usage in terms of mega bytes used. It is therefore meant to improve customer experience and empower them to manage their usage.”

“One of our network vendor partners has piloted this solution through a third-party to help customers understand their data consumption in terms of volume of data used. As a responsible corporate, we have the highest regard for customer privacy and we follow a policy of zero tolerance with regard to the confidentiality of customer data," the spokerperson concluded.
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