Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday refused to defend or denounce the decision of the Information Technology (IT) Department to use a mobile phone application developed by Sprinklr, a U.S.-based firm, to enable field health workers to record the details of nearly 1.75 lakh citizens under surveillance for COVID-19 symptoms in Kerala.
At a press meet, he fended off questions whether there was any truth in the allegation that Sprinklr had compromised the personal medical information of citizens stored in its servers based in the U.S. for profit.
‘No time’
“The IT department will explain. You ask the IT Secretary. I am not going into the details. I have no time to go after these things. The Opposition is raking up the issue. It is their prerogative,” Mr. Vijayan said.
Mr. Vijayan refused to elaborate whether the government had belatedly ordered Sprinklr to store field health data in servers run by the State Data Centre.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala, said the IT department’s ‘nexus’ with Sprinklr had turned murkier with Mr. Vijayan evading question. He said the government decision to disown the company was a moral victory for the Opposition.
‘Bypassing procedure’
The government had by-passed tender procedure to contract the “American public relations firm that spearheaded the social media push of the Donald Trump Campaign in 2016”. Sprinklr had scarce experience in monitoring epidemics or collating health data. The company was now sitting on a treasure trove of electronic medical records of many Keralites, he said.
Sprinklr had made the IT Secretary act in a film to promote its brand. It had a chequered history. The firm could palm off the data to private players in the health care, pharmaceutical and medical research sectors for huge money, he alleged.
