“UIDAI toll free number in phones is not due to hacking”, Google apologises

Google has apologised after receiving the public’s fury for installing UIDAI and 112 helpline numbers into Android phones which have been termed to be a hack.

“Our internal review has revealed that in 2014, the then UIDAI helpline number and the 112 distress helpline number were inadvertently coded into the setup wizard of the Android release given to OEMs (Original equipment manufacturers) for use in India and has remained there since. Since the numbers get listed on a user’s contact list these get transferred accordingly to the contacts on any new device”, a Google spokesperson said in a statement.

“We are sorry for any concern that this might have caused and would like to assure everyone that this is not a situation of a hack of their Android devices. Users can manually delete the number from their devices,” the statement added.

The Aadhaar-issuing authority, UIDAI, has said earlier today that they have not asked any telecom service provider to include its toll-free number.

Telecom operators have also mentioned that they have not preloaded any unknown numbers in any phone.

The #UIDAI has been trending on Twitter after the users started questioning about the preloaded helpline numbers in the phone as a “breach of privacy”.

“Hi @UIDAI, Many people, with different provider, with and without an #Aadhaar card, with and without the mAadhaar app installed, noticed that your phone number is predefined in their contact list by default and so without their knowledge. Can you explain why?”, tweeted a French security expert under the name Elliot Alderson.