"Let’s Go Brandon..........."

 Let’s Go Brandon

This weird phrase, which has been going viral in the USA for the last two months has suddenly gained popularity this Thanksgiving weekend, with its chants being heard literally across all of America, from sporting events to political gatherings and even in twitter feeds of American politicians as a hashtag.

 

For those who are still clueless, this phrase that sounds like a sports chant is actually a disguised insult to the current President of USA, Joe Biden. It made its way into the US political discussions after a reporter misquoted a crowd chanting and obscenity about Biden. On 2^nd October, the winner of the Nascar race at Talladega was being interviewed by Sports reporter Kelli Stavast, with a crowd behind them chanting “F**K Joe Biden”, a chant in the USA over past several months. During the interview, Stavast remarked about this, saying that “You can hear the chants from the crowd. Let’s go Brandon”. It is uncertain whether she misheard the original phrase or decided not to repeat it due to its profanity, but it gained rapid popularity, with those who are opposed to Biden’s presidency grabbing-up this new phrase to overcome social censorship.  

“Let’s go Brandon” has trended on Twitter many times since this initial interview, with Republican party politicians using the phrase as a hashtag. A representative from Florida State ended his speech on the House floor of the US Congress (equivalent to the Lok Sabha floor) with this phrase. The representative from South Carolina wore a mask on the House floor with the phrase printed on it. Apart from the obvious insult directed at Biden (who is from the Democratic Party), the Let’s go Brandon phrase has created its share of controversy. A pilot for Southwest Airlines used it during a flight announcement, and two of the top five best selling songs released on Billboard in the 2^nd week of November referenced this phrase. Along-with the “Let’s go Brandon” song, there is also a “Let’s go Brandon” dance, taking its popularity into the internet stratosphere.

Like so many other politically loaded cheeky phrases that have hit the internet before, this will most certainly fade as rapidly as it has become popular. But, for now, “Let’s go Brandon” is having its moments of fame.

 

 

Data-mining of Indian Citizens and Company Information by Godaddy.

Godaddy is an American company that offers website hosting and domain registration services globally. With its headquarters based in Tempe, Arizona (USA), and operations across many countries; as of June 2020, GoDaddy has more than 20 million customers and over 7,000 employees worldwide; essentially making it an influential (?) global corporate.

 

I have been a customer of Godaddy for over 7 years, and have registered several domain names with this company. In addition, multiple websites of my various companies are hosted onto the Godaddy platform.

My issue with Godaddy started about 6-weeks ago when I was not able to access my account page. Now, we must first understand that there is a two-step account verification protocol that is offered by Godaddy; whereby when customers try to log into their account, the Godaddy servers generate and send over an OTP (one time password, usually a code of six digits) to the registered mobile number of the account holder, and upon inserting this OTP onto the account login page, the customers can access their individual accounts.

However, despite multiple attempts over the first two weeks, the mobile number that is registered with Godaddy did not receive any SMS / text message with the OTP. When their customer service was contacted, initially their explanation was that the Godaddy system was generating OTPs, but my telecom carrier was not delivering the same. When I approached my telecom carrier (Reliance Jio) customer service, they checked my number and stated that there were no blocks to SMS delivery on my number. And, this is factually correct, since I was receiving OTPs for my other transactions. Only the Godaddy OTPs were not being delivered.

When I confronted Godaddy Customer service with this, they advised me to request the removal of the two-step account verification protocol, for which I had to send them an email from the specific email address linked to my Godaddy account. I was also told that it would take Godaddy 72 hours to process my request. When nothing happened after 72 hours, I again called the Godaddy customer service and then the situation became interesting.

Now, there was a new demand from Godaddy to unlock / unblock my account. The wanted a Government issued Photo-ID (essentially the Aadhar card) and copy of my PAN card to be submitted to them for “verification” and confirmation that I was the actual owner of the account; along with copies of the registration certificates of my various companies.

My question to them at this point was, how could they verify my Aadhar & PAN information, when I had never submitted this information to them in the first place? They had no legitimate answer to this question, but were insistent that I had to submit copies of these documents to resolve the issue. I went ahead with their request and submitted only my Aadhar card and PAN, but also took the necessary precaution of taking advice from legal experts, who advised me that Godaddy company’s demands were ‘prima facia’ in violation of the ‘Information Technology Act, 2000 ("IT Act")’ and its corresponding rules under the ‘Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011 ("SPDI Rules")’.

Furthermore, in a landmark judgment delivered on 24 August 2017 (Justice K.S Puttaswamy & another vs. Union of India), the Supreme Court of India recognized the right to privacy as a Fundamental Right under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution as a part of the right to “life” and “personal liberty”, and it would seem that Godaddy is in violation of my Fundamental Right as well.

The ongoing saga took an interesting twist when Godaddy asked me for a copy of my passport. When I refused to share the same, citing that I did not have a passport, the response was that “records” show that I had recently travelled internationally. My question at this point is; how does Godaddy have access to my personal information and what they claim are my travel records?

These are the same queries that I have placed officially before the Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India; and the Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Govt. of India.

Within two days of these letters reaching MHA & MCA, a friend of mine in the highest levels of the Union Govt. had a conversation with someone in the Godaddy India Corporate office (located in Gurugram, Haryana). My account was immediately unblocked and I started receiving OTPs from Godaddy without any incident. I removed the two-step verification process and assumed that the account would have no more issues.

But I was wrong. Two days later, the account is blocked again, this time under the pretext that my physical address cannot be verified by Godaddy. The question here is; why does Godaddy have the need to verify my physical location, when their services have been paid for fully in advance on an annual basis?

My business background of over 35 years, is in the areas of Anti-Terrorism and Law-Enforcement with a deep study of Cyber-security and Data-security. In my opinion, Godaddy is proactively collecting and collating my individual personal information as well as my Corporate information; which can be defined as ‘data-mining’. Whether Godaddy is violating the Laws of India regarding Data Privacy and also my Fundamental Rights as guaranteed by the ‘Constitution of India’, will be decided by the officials of the Government of India and if needed by the Courts of India.

To all those who are reading this article, and feel that their privacy may have been violated by Godaddy (or any other foreign corporate operating in India), do write about it in detail to the Secretary, MHA, Govt. of India. Defending ourselves from foreign anti-India activities is our Right and we have to demand protection from data-mining of our information by foreign corporates.

 

Author of this article:

Sardar Sanjay Matkar 

Email: matkar@outlook.com  

 

 

  Smart Textiles for Military Market

Smart textiles are defined as textiles capable of sensing and reacting to mechanical, thermal, magnetic, chemical, electrical, or other sources of environmental stimuli in a predetermined way. Smart textiles integrate electronics, circuits, and sensors such as heart rate sensors, and accelerometers into the military uniforms and other clothing used by the military.

Applications are for Camouflage, Energy Retention, Temperature Monitoring and Control, Protection and Mobility, Health Monitoring and Diagnostics, and Geographical conditions. 

 

The smart textiles for the military market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 26.14% during the period 2021 – 2026.

The growing military spending and territorial issues between various countries are propelling the investments towards augmentation of the technologies for their armed forces. Such investments are focused on the development and deployment of advanced smart textiles for their military personnel, which is expected to propel the growth of the market.

Currently, companies and research facilities are focusing on the various categories of technology-enabled fibers, such as dual-channel data transfer capable fibers, color-changing fibers, and fibers that can store electricity.

Also, textile-based materials equipped with nanotechnology and electronics play a key role in the development of technologically advanced military uniforms and materials. The growing emphasis on the integration of such technologies into military textiles is expected to bolster the market prospects during the forecast period. The incorporation of stealth materials that can completely conceal the presence of military personnel is expected to accelerate the growth of the market in the coming years.

The operation of military personnel in harsh terrains for extended tenure necessitates protection from elements and battle hazards. Biological and chemical agents continue to pose severe threats because of their broad defensive and offensive potential. Recently, the threat of bio-terrorism increased due to the concerns that non-state armed actors, such as terrorists and militia groups, could use biological agents to target air, water sources, food supplies, and other vital infrastructures.

Furthermore, toxins and microbiological materials also pose a great threat to the mental health of the troops, which could affect the success of any military operations. The integration of IoT sensors in smart clothes to determine the presence and level of hazardous gas in the environment and allow the military to mitigate the harm caused by hazardous gases efficiently. Since clothing is the first layer of protection for the wearer and forms an important protective measure in defense operation against combat and environmental hazards, this segment is expected to witness highest growth during the forecast period.

China and India are two of the world’s largest defense spenders with USD 261 billion and USD 71.1 billion military spending in 2019, respectively. The increase in defense spending is propelling the investments towards the development and deployment of smart textiles for the military personnel. As of November 2020, China has shortlisted nearly two dozen private companies to supply advanced unmanned weaponry and graphene clothing to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) regiments deployed along with the long high-altitude border areas with India. The Chinese armed forces are also looking for advanced logistics support equipment like portable solar chargers, smart warm clothing made of graphene, and portable oxygenators to fuse its military needs with the technology available in the civilian sector.

However, technology adoption is not without its constraints and criticism associated with lowered security protocols that may threaten an entire operation due to hostile capture or manipulation of transmitted data. Since 2015, China has imposed a ban on the use of smart wearables in the PLA Army and deemed that the use of wearables with internet access, location information, and voice-calling functions should be considered a violation of confidential regulations when used by military personnel. This may limit the adoption of smart textiles and associated wearables in the region to a certain extent.