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, the Indian Express reported.
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, the Indian Express reported.
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 analyzing loopholes in the Aadhaar system – a topic of debate that began when the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government introduced the UIDAI.
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.
However, the UIDAI gains nothing by filing FIRs against these three individuals. All three people – whether they have committed a crime or not – have proven that it is possible to leak sensitive data, which questions how private our information can actually be if establishments like banks and mobile phone companies have access to an individual’s data. More recently, PayTM and Ola have demanded the Aadhaar numbers of individuals to avail their services. In the case of Ola, it has been for using Ola Money, an online payment system similar to PayTM.
The data breach shows that the UIDAI has a lot to answer to, but it’s busy filing FIRs against those exposing the loopholes. And if all it takes is Rs 500 to access our data, then the Supreme Court’s ruling regarding Right to Privacy would be for nothing.
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