Hyderabad hotel guest data provided to blockchain company in US?-Telangana Today

Cybersecurity activist Srinivas Kodali, known as @digitaldotta on X, was the one who shed light on this shocking act.

Publication date: June 8, 2024, 1.40pm

Hyderabad: Amid growing concerns about the compromised privacy of citizen data in the state following the alleged cyberattack on the State Police website, another troubling concern about citizen data has emerged. This comes after a cybersecurity enthusiast revealed that details of guests at hotels in Hyderabad, along with those of who they stayed at, were allegedly sent by the state police to an American cryptocurrency company which never collected any consent informed for this.

Cybersecurity activist Srinivas Kodali, known as @digitaldotta on X, was the one who shed light on this shocking act.

“Dear @TelanganaCOP, why do you collect details of everyone who checks in to a hotel in Hyderabad and why do you send them to a blockchain company – zebichain?” he asked in a post on X.

What exactly happened or why this was done, if the accusation is true, is not yet clear. Another user X, Mahesh Murthy, responded to Kodali’s post and dug up some information on his behalf.

“So who is this cryptocurrency company Zebichain? Turns out it’s a nearly defunct cryptocurrency company based in California, founded by 2 Bay Area gentlemen @BabuMunagala and Pruthvi Rao

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

It goes on to say that the person, Babu Munaagala, had said in a 2018 interview that a lot 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 have NEVER been asked for consent to share my name and details with Zebichain or anyone else. Unscientific survey – I asked 5 friends who often visit and stay in hotels in the city – and they had never heard of their data collected in this way. I’ve never heard of or had a Zebi ID, and neither does anyone else. Then how did this company strike a deal with the @TelanganaCops to illegally steal this data,” she asks, also adding that the same group also has the land records of Andhra Pradesh.

There is also an Andhra connection with the group, Murthy says.

“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 is a paid-up capital of almost Rs. 3 crore https://cleartax.in/f/company/zebi-data-india-private-limited/U72200AP2015PTC096738…”

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

The revelations of Srinivas Kodali and Mahesh Murthy have led many citizens to share their experiences, while questions about how the company got their hands on this data and what they plan to do with it, remain unanswered.

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

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