CHENNAI: There is a hashtag on twitter that perfectly captures the several missteps that Aadhaar has endured in the last few months: #AadhaarFail
On Monday, it again got traction as Chandigarh’s Food and Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department shared Unique Identification (UID) numbers of scores of people on their website. It even had details like ration card numbers, date of birth, head of the family, spouse name, age and total members in the family.
Not to be outdone, Swachh Bharat Mission, one of the arms of the Ministry of Water and Sanitation, too had shared details on their website. The details include Aadhaar and ration card and Voter ID numbers. It also includes caste status. All these details were accessed by Express on their website and details of which have since been taken off.
In light of the Supreme Court’s recent questions to the Centre, this is bound to put more heat on the authorities concerned to stop the leaks because on Saturday, Jharkhand government put up similar details. As per the Aadhaar Act, its Section 29 (4) states: “No Aadhaar number or core biometric information collected or created under this Act in respect of an Aadhaar number holder shall be published, displayed or posted publicly, except for the purposes as may be specified by regulations.” It looks like a lot of the people have failed to read this portion.
However, it is a billion dollar question why details which are supposed to be protected are up in the public domain particularly at a time when the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has filed FIRs against eight unauthorised websites in New Delhi for promising Aadhaar-related services, and illegally collecting Aadhaar numbers and enrollment details from people.
On the Swacch Bharat Mission website, which has maximum details of beneficiaries from Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh, the details include family ID, Aadhaar number, family card number and voter identification number. However, by 8.30 pm on Monday, these details were taken down by the department.
In the case of Chandigarh’s Food and Supplies and Consumer Affairs department, the details include ration card and Aadhaar numbers apart from kerosene IDs and family details and addresses.
“This is outrageous. These things are supposed to be confidential, but what is happening now is nobody knows what the norms and rules are when it comes to putting up these details on the Net. The ministry took it down within hours, but that is enough for people across the globe to have access to it and nobody can guarantee that these details were not picked up by strangers. The UIDAI has to be more accountable when it comes to breaches like this because if my bank details are made public, anybody can have access to it? Is there any way people can complain about this breach of private details?” asked Usha Ramanathan, an independent law researcher studying Aadhaar since 2009.
Communist Party leader D Raja is all set to meet Vice President Hamid Ansari, questioning the government’s intentions to make Aadhaar mandatory, despite the fact that the case is pending before the Supreme Court. “I don’t have an Aadhaar card myself, and now I’m told it is mandatory to have one if I’ve to file I-T returns and it will be linked to the PAN number. But, how can I divulge my personal details when everything is being put up on the website. Look at what the Jharkhand government did the other day? Isn’t it a breach of trust? This was raised by a lot of members in the Rajya Sabha, but the short discussion didn’t yield anything and the questions still remain. Leaking private information without prior permission is a social security breach. In some states, students have to provide the Aadhaar number for mid-day meal scheme, which like the Supreme Court said isn’t mandatory at all as it is a welfare scheme. Some of the companies who are enrolling these details have access to foreign investigative agencies which puts us at risk and that is the reason I’m writing it to the V-P,” Raja said.