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Just last week I applied Indian Passport because of some changes in my address & othet particulars, the process was to fill an online form, pay fees online, boo

Just last week I applied Indian Passport because of some changes in my address & othet particulars, the process was to fill an online form, pay fees online, book appointment online, show up with a confirmation SMS & old Original Passport alongwith one more ID Original. So basically no photocopies, no paper. Went in at pre-opted time, entered a number from my SMS in a kiosk machine, confirmed all particulars filled in online as correct, stood for photo, put fingers on scanner when asked, got another token number, where when called, a single person asked me to show him my original existing passport & second ID, all ok, received a SMS & Email with all the details, & a case number to follow the progress. All paperless & interacted with only one human. All this was managed by Tata Technology & Indian Government. Fun Fact, Machine didn't show me my photo till the very last step, & I thought of changing & having one more try to pose with looking bit good, got an error that Photo will he taken only once, & only them can initiate the re-click of photo, not me.

ttsda 8y ago
We also have similar machines in Portugal for ID card and passport issuance, but luckily they will ask if you like the picture or if you want another taken...
ryanlol 8y ago
Do you think that they process your data in a secure manner?
- davchana 8y ago
  I think yes, as Tata is a reputed brand & group of companies (auto, tech, steel, infra & many) & also because whole passport office & operation is always supervised by government officials. Before this, it was always a big bundle of original & photocopied documents & forms.
  - ryanlol 8y ago
    Indian bigcos tend to have this odd habit of putting all their internal stuff publicly on github, I’ve never really figured out why. Searching something like “tcs.com password” or “proxy.tcs.com” finds vast amounts of internal tata stuff like this https://github.com/nabind/prism_test/blob/9b42b56cd3c108e8d4664aad4b96ed2c7d0f8e97/INORS/PrismPdfUtility/aws.properties https://github.com/nabind/prism_test/blob/9b42b56cd3c108e8d4... or this https://github.com/manojkarthick/Real-Time-Twitter-Analysis/blob/377d908c4e65f89e7bad11627b131948e3063600/conf/twitter4j.properties https://github.com/manojkarthick/Real-Time-Twitter-Analysis/... With a quick look there seem to be 100+ unique TCS domain logins on github. I’m sure there are some smart people there, but this seems like a seriously troubled organization.
  - iamshs 8y ago
    Putting trust in TCS just because it is Tata is very worrisome. Tata products are 'reputed' only in local Indian market bubble, propped up by government protectionist measures. https://techcrunch.com/2010/02/07/indian-it-giant-tata-consultancy-services-hacked/ https://techcrunch.com/2010/02/07/indian-it-giant-tata-consu...
    - davchana 8y ago
      Its not that we, as in public, have a choice of passport issuers :)

ttsda 8y ago

We also have similar machines in Portugal for ID card and passport issuance, but luckily they will ask if you like the picture or if you want another taken...

ryanlol 8y ago

Do you think that they process your data in a secure manner?

davchana 8y ago
I think yes, as Tata is a reputed brand & group of companies (auto, tech, steel, infra & many) & also because whole passport office & operation is always supervised by government officials. Before this, it was always a big bundle of original & photocopied documents & forms.
- ryanlol 8y ago
  Indian bigcos tend to have this odd habit of putting all their internal stuff publicly on github, I’ve never really figured out why. Searching something like “tcs.com password” or “proxy.tcs.com” finds vast amounts of internal tata stuff like this https://github.com/nabind/prism_test/blob/9b42b56cd3c108e8d4664aad4b96ed2c7d0f8e97/INORS/PrismPdfUtility/aws.properties https://github.com/nabind/prism_test/blob/9b42b56cd3c108e8d4... or this https://github.com/manojkarthick/Real-Time-Twitter-Analysis/blob/377d908c4e65f89e7bad11627b131948e3063600/conf/twitter4j.properties https://github.com/manojkarthick/Real-Time-Twitter-Analysis/... With a quick look there seem to be 100+ unique TCS domain logins on github. I’m sure there are some smart people there, but this seems like a seriously troubled organization.
- iamshs 8y ago
  Putting trust in TCS just because it is Tata is very worrisome. Tata products are 'reputed' only in local Indian market bubble, propped up by government protectionist measures. https://techcrunch.com/2010/02/07/indian-it-giant-tata-consultancy-services-hacked/ https://techcrunch.com/2010/02/07/indian-it-giant-tata-consu...
  - davchana 8y ago
    Its not that we, as in public, have a choice of passport issuers :)