India, Dec. 12 -- The electronics and information technology ministry has directed virtual private network (VPN) service providers and other intermediaries to immediately block access to websites leaking personal information of Indians.

A ministry official first posted the directive on Thursday on LinkedIn, flagging sites such as proxyearth.org and leakdata.org for allegedly exposing names, mobile numbers, addresses, and other details without consent. A top ministry official confirmed the authenticity of the directive.

The flagged sites allowed users to enter any Indian mobile number to access information, including full name, address, alternate numbers, and email IDs.

The ministry warned that such platforms pose a significant risk to ...