In a glaring admission, a government official has reportedly accepted the fact that Aadhaar is not as safe as the government projects it to be and that citizens’ data has been made public.
A report in the New Indian Express claims to have accessed an email sent by an employee working at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The report mentions that the letter, written on March 25 this year, has the employee telling the government that “There have been instances wherein personal identity or information of residents, including Aadhaar number and demographic information and other sensitive personal data such as bank account details etc. collected by various Ministries/Departments... has been reportedly published online and is accessible through an easy online search.”
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The official, a scientist at the ministry, has gone on to add that leaks of such nature were dangerous and punishable according to the Aadhaar Act 2016.
On March 5, the same ministry had reassured the public, saying that there had been no data leaks with regard to Aadhaar data and that it was secure. Earlier this week, cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s wife pointed out that her husband’s Aadhaar details had been leaked online. The government had assured that they will take the agency to task.
The government has come under criticism for bulldozing its way with the 12-digit biometric authentication. Aadhaar has been linked to people’s bank accounts via the PAN card, and has been made mandatory for filing income-tax returns. It has been made mandatory for over 30 government schemes related to availing subsidies, insurance and other benefits.
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IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has recently said that close to 98 percent of the adult population was under Aadhaar. The leakage of data on such a mass-scale could have unforeseen consequences.
