Hyderabad hotel guest data given to blockchain firm in US?

Cyber security activist Srinivas Kodali, who goes by the handle @digitaldutta on X, was the one to shine light on this shocking act.

Hyderabad: Amidst mounting concerns of data privacy of citizens in the State being compromised following the alleged hacking of the State police website, one more disturbing concern over citizen data has emerged. This is after a cyber security enthusiast revealed that details of guests in hotels in Hyderabad, along with that of who they stayed with, was allegedly sent by the State police to an American crypto firm that never took any informed consent for this.

Cyber security activist Srinivas Kodali, who goes by the handle @digitaldutta on X, was the one to shine light on this shocking act.

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“Dear @TelanganaCOPs why are you collecting details of everyone who checks-in into a hotel in Hyderabad and why are you sending them to a blockchain company – zebichain?” he asked in a post on X.

Dear @TelanganaCOPs why are you collecting details of everyone who checks-in into a hotel in Hyderabad and why are you sending them to a blockchain company – zebichain? pic.twitter.com/AHqbgFTfig

— Srinivas Kodali (@digitaldutta) June 7, 2024

What exactly happened or why this was done, if the allegation is true, is yet to be clear. Another X user, Mahesh Murthy, responded to Kodali’s post and did some information digging on his own.

“So who is this crypto firm Zebichain? Turns out it’s a near-defunct crypto company based in California, founded by 2 Bay Area gents @BabuMunagala and Pruthvi Rao

@PointsOfFew. Munagala apparently spent 18 years at @Oracle and then started doing some #crypto stuff https://linkedin.com/in/sbabs/,” he said.

So who is this crypto firm Zebichain? Turns out it’s a near-defunct crypto company based in California, founded by 2 Bay Area gents @BabuMunagala and Pruthvi Rao @PointsOfFew . Munagala apparently spent 18 years at @Oracle and then started doing some #crypto stuff…

— Mahesh Murthy (@maheshmurthy) June 7, 2024

He goes on to say that the person, Babu Munaagala, had claimed in a 2018 interview that loads of people were voluntarily sharing this information from 200 hotels in India.

“I have stayed dozens of times in #hyderabad hotels in these 6 years and I have NEVER been asked for consent to share my name and details with Zebichain or anybody else. Unscientific survey – I asked 5 friends who visit and stay at hotels in the city often – and they all had never heard of their data being harvested thus. I have never heard of or had a Zebi ID – and neither had anyone else. So how did this firm do a deal with the @TelanganaCops to illegally steal this data?” he asks, also adding that the same group has Andhra Pradesh land records as well.

There is an Andhra connection to the group as well, says Murthy.

“Meanwhile the US company has an ‘affiliate’ in India called Zebi Data India @ZebidataIndia which is based in Gannavaram, Vijayawada. For a company with little apparent activity, there’s a paid up capital of nearly Rs. 3 crores https://cleartax.in/f/company/zebi-data-india-private-limited/U72200AP2015PTC096738…”

Meanwhile the US company has an ‘affiliate’ in India called Zebi Data India @ZebidataIndia which is based in Gannavaram, Vijayawada. For a company with little apparent activity, there’s a paid up capital of nearly Rs. 3 crores 7/n https://t.co/wwreiJReVU #Data #Fraud #DataTheft…

— Mahesh Murthy (@maheshmurthy) June 7, 2024

“But imagine that – there are over 1,100 hotels in #Hyderabad – and assuming an average of 25 rooms across each, and an average occupancy of 75%, with an average of 1.5 people per room – that indicates that up to 1 crore names of hotel residents a year have been sent illegally EVERY YEAR to the US by the @TelanganaCOPs. Who authorised this? What is this firm doing with this data?” he asks.

The revelations from Srinivas Kodali and from Mahesh Murthy have many citizens sharing their own experiences, with the questions of how the firm got its hands on this data and what they intend to do with it, remaining unanswered.

“Do they intend to use the data for blackmail? For surveillance? For some kind of marketing?” asks Murthy, echoing what is on everyone else’s mind, especially those hotel guests.