Koo co-founder Mayank Bidawatka on Thursday denied claims made by French hacker Elliot Anderson who "tested" the app and concluded that the India-made Twitter competitor was leaking user information like names, emails, date-of-birth, marital status, and gender online.
Responding to Sputnik's query, Bidawatka said there was no user data leak whatsoever.
"That's data given by the user to be made public on their profile. You call that a data leak? There's no need for users to panic. Just enjoy using the platform", the Koo co-founder said.
Bidawatka's reaction comes after French hacker Anderson tweeted screenshots of some metadata claiming that he spent 30 minutes on the India-made app and found data leaks in its system.
You asked so I did it. I spent 30 min on this new Koo app. The app is leaking of the personal data of his users: email, dob, name, marital status, gender, ... https://t.co/87Et18MrOg pic.twitter.com/qzrXeFBW0L
— Elliot Alderson (@fs0c131y) February 10, 2021
The Chinese firm had actually invested in Koo's earlier branding "Vokal", but its shares have been bought out, Koo co-founder Aprameya Radhakrishna has revealed to the media.
Koo app found to be leaking sensitive users data, China connection surfaces - INDIA TODAY. According to a French security researcher, Koo is not very safe, and currently, it is leaking a lot of sensitive user information including email ID, phone numbers and date of birth.
— Giga Byte (@Gigabyte2036) February 11, 2021
Is this true @aprameya @mayankbidawatka @kooindia ?
— M. Nageswara Rao IPS(R) (@MNageswarRaoIPS) February 11, 2021
Please clarify and put in place strong data protection measures. https://t.co/kWiFYAMD9V
Government supporters who have been advocating for Koo over Twitter jumped up with explanations favouring the Indian app.
Koo app does ask the user if these information will be public or private. How can it be called leaking. And all these information is optional to register in Koo.
— Buddhiheen-jeevi Vijay (@vijaySumne) February 11, 2021
As expected attack on #koo has started.
— Manu (@manusome9) February 11, 2021
Mouthpiece of Criminals @IndiaToday is #BreakingFakeNews referring to some #French research agency that #Koo is leaking user data .
In other information it's also reported that #Twitter is spending millions to defame #Koo ! #BanTwitter
It is noteworthy that PM Modi's supporters are ready to be patient with Koo, because Twitter has been arguing with the government of late. Narendra Modi had earlier encouraged Indians to use Koo in one of his Mann Ki Baat monthly radio talks.
Koo is still very unstable..... cannot find find people etc
— Sanjeev Sanyal (@sanjeevsanyal) February 10, 2021
Am prepared to be patient, but this needs sorting out
The platform gained momentum after Twitter took "delayed" steps in removing over 2,000 government-listed accounts that were allegedly spreading provocative sentiments concerning the ongoing protests in and around New Delhi.
After getting a legal notice over non-compliance from the Indian government, Twitter admitted to having blocked over 500 government-listed accounts from its platform.
#Twitter accepts receiving notices from the Indian government. pic.twitter.com/FcTwXKe4qp
— Radhika Parashar (@_RadhikaReports) February 10, 2021
