Airtel, the major private telecom operator has been allegedly caught spying on users by injecting mysterious lines of codes into the web browsers used by the customers to visit websites through its 3G network. This came to light when activist and programmer Thejesh GN received a legal notice for exposing how Airtel inserts Javascript code and iframes into a user's browsing session. Bharti Airtel has made headlines for all the wrong reasons, after angering Internet users in India with its ambitious VoIP pack and Airtel Zero plan, the telecom giant is now accused of spying on its 3G mobile Internet subscribers.

Thejesh traced a mystery Javascript code during one of his browsing sessions using the network managed by Bharti Airtel and posted the findings on his twitter handle @thej and the GitHub repository. After that Thejesh received a cease and desist order requesting him to take down the post by an Israeli based company Flash Networks. Thejesh's GitHub post was taken down following a DMCA takedown notice by Flash Networks.

"This is a standard solution deployed by telcos globally to help their customers keep track of their data usage in terms of megabytes. It is therefore meant to improve customer experience and empower them to manage their usage. One of our network vendor partners has piloted this solution through a third party to help customers understand their data consumption in terms of volume of data used," Airtel stated.

"As a responsible corporate, we have the highest regard for customer privacy and we follow a policy of zero tolerance with regard to the confidentiality of customer data," it added.

Flash Network’s website states, it offers telecom operators “a new way to monetize,” “help mobile operators communicate with their subscribers as they browse the web and to offer them services that generate new downstream revenues from over-the-top affiliation.”

Airtel refused the allegation of spying by saying that “the company has zero tolerance with regard to the confidentiality of customer data,” the said solution continues to exist and does what it is meant to do, go through browsing sessions of the user in the background and offer Airtel “services that generate new downstream revenues.”

By Premji