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Aadhaar being used as surveillance tool, FIR against journalist is 'arrogance of power': Congress

Congress attacks Modi govt for Aadhaar FIR.

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Congress on Sunday blasted the Central government after UIDAI filed an FIR against a journalist for pointing out flaws and data leak in Aadhaar. 

Congress spokesperson Shobha Oza said that the current regime has undone all the good work regarding Aadhaar by the past government. She alleged that government is using Aadhaar as a surveillance tool. Oza also pointed out Narendra Modi's tweet as CM of Gujarat when he said that he is unhappy with security aspects of Aadhaar. Congress spokesperson said the government is showing dictatorial streak and is acting as dismissive and oppressive. 

Congress leader alleged that anyone not toeing the government line is dubbed as anti-national and FIRs filed against them. 

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala also reacted to the news. " Shoot the ‘messenger’,Ignore the ‘message’!This typifies the ‘culture’ & ‘character’ of BJP Govt. FIR against @thetribunechd reporter is ‘arrogance of power’ at its worst.Every Indian must condemn this mindless act of Modi Govt & @UIDAI"

An FIR was registered against a journalist from The Tribune newspaper after a report on how easily Aadhaar data could be leaked went viral on social media.

According to reports, UIDAI – the governing body that handles Aadhaar data – sent a letter to newspaper, demanding to know if the reporter could view fingerprints and iris details with Aadhaar number. This isn’t the first time an FIR has been registered against a journalist or an individual for analysing loopholes in the Aadhaar system – a topic of debate that began when the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government introduced the UIDAI.

Here's UIDAI's response after massive outrage on social media.

The Delhi police had in March 2017 registered what is possibly the first case filed under the Aadhaar Act after two separate persons were “found having the same parameters of biometric information”. The FIR was filed against a CNN-News 18 journalist after the channel aired a segment showing that it was possible to obtain two separate Aadhaar enrollment numbers with the same set of biometrics. The second person against whom an FIR was registered was Skoch group chairman Sameer Kochhar who posted a video and blog post showing that the biometric identification system could possibly be vulnerable against replay attacks.

 

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