New Delhi: A recent Reddit post has raised concern about Airtel’s practice of recycling mobile numbers after 90 days of inactivity. The post has sparked concern on social media.
A user shared that, after buying a new Airtel SIM, he began receiving calls from strangers even though he never shared the number with anyone. Even banks started asking him to repay a loan.
When the Reddit user checked Truecaller, he realised the number previously belonged to someone named Kiran. The number was linked to multiple apps and services. Now, the new owner could log in to platforms like Zomato, Swiggy, Uber and even Facebook using OTPs. The Redditor can access the former user’s personal details.
“If I try to order food on Zomato or Swiggy, no new user offers, everything already used by that person. If I try to book cab on uber, it has very bad ratings on this number. If I try to register some platforms or govt websites it says this number is already registered try login. If I try login it shows previous owners details,” the user wrote.
He also found that cab ratings, user offers and government portal registrations were still tied to the old owner. The post argues that this is a serious privacy risk.
“And even I can log in to his/her Facebook account, see his personal details, everything. This seems silly thing but it really a serious issue, if someone can’t reacharge for 3-4 months, his number, all his personal details will get transferred to someone else. It forces users to recharge at any cost,” the user added.
People who stop recharging for a few months may unknowingly expose their data to strangers. The user urged the government to extend the deactivation period to at least a year. He also urged authorities to impose a cooling-off period for around 4-5 years before reissuing numbers to protect citizens’ privacy.
Other social media users have also expressed concern about the issue.
“Food delivery is one thing. But even things like Aadhaar, income tax, UPI, bank accounts is all connected to the same flimsy number. This is a massive security issue,” commented one of them.
“Developers and product designers who think one phone number is somehow a permanent unique identifier: please get some life experience,” came from another.
Another user wrote, “This is why I am using the same number for the past 11 years, will never change.”
“I got a number of a girl probably who’s ex used to call me and ask me if I’m her current bf, though I explained it to him several times but he didn’t listen,” shared another user.
While the Reddit user specifically refers to Airtel, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) allows all mobile operators in India to reassign mobile numbers, deactivated due to non-use. It can be done after 90 days.
In 2023, the Supreme Court heard a petition on the risk of data misuse. The apex court said it would not stop telecom companies from reallocating deactivated mobile numbers.
“It is for the earlier subscriber to take adequate steps to ensure that privacy is maintained,” a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti said in its order passed on October 30. (LM)
