Demanding Aadhaar as a proxy for identity must be criminalised: Edward Snowden

American whistle-blower and former Central Intelligence Agency employee Edward Snowden continued voicing his concern about data of Indian citizens getting misused by the Government of India though Aadhaar cards.

Taking to Twitter, Snowden backed former RAW Chief KC Verma, who in an article in The Wire, had written about his experiences with Aadhaar. Snowden retweeted the article, with a quote that read, “Rarely do former intel chiefs and I agree, but the head of India's RAW writes #Aadhaar is being abused by banks, telcos, and transport not to police entitlements, but as a proxy for identity–an improper gate to service. Such demands must be criminalized.”

Rarely do former intel chiefs and I agree, but the head of India's RAW writes #Aadhaar is being abused by banks, telcos, and transport not to police entitlements, but as a proxy for identity–an improper gate to service. Such demands must be criminalized. https://t.co/rRSn42XLlQ

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) January 21, 2018

Later, UIDAI tweeted a series of tweets debunking the myths behind Aadhaar. One of them read, “#Aadhaar is an identifier, not a profiling tool. Aadhaar database does not keep any information about bank accounts, shares, mutual funds, property details, health records, family details, religion, caste, education etc.  #AadhaarMythBuster (sic).”

#Aadhaar is an identifier, not a profiling tool.
Aadhaar database does not keep any information about bank accounts, shares, mutual funds, property details, health records, family details, religion, caste, education etc. #AadhaarMythBuster

— Aadhaar (@UIDAI) January 17, 2018

To which Snowden said, “That might be true if banks, landlords, hospitals, schools, telephone & internet companies were prohibited by law from asking for your #Aadhaar number. But any Indian can tell you they're asked for their number by non-government entities––and those companies have databases too.”

That might be true if banks, landlords, hospitals, schools, telephone & internet companies were prohibited by law from asking for your #Aadhaar number. But any Indian can tell you they're asked for their number by non-government entities––and those companies have databases too. https://t.co/WsKC9wR6sj

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) January 21, 2018

Snowden said that the Aadhaar database conceived and introduced by the Indian government can also be misused and abused. Retweeting CBS journalist Zack Whittaker's response on a BuzzFeed report on the breach of Aadhaar database in India, Snowden said, "It is the natural tendency of government to desire perfect records of private lives. History shows that no matter the laws, the result is abuse."

Snowden also criticised the UIDAI for registering an FIR against a journalist from the Tribune, who exposed how easy it was for anyone to access information of a billion users for just Rs 500.

The journalists exposing the #Aadhaar breach deserve an award, not an investigation. If the government were truly concerned for justice, they would be reforming the policies that destroyed the privacy of a billion Indians. Want to arrest those responsible? They are called @UIDAI. https://t.co/xyewbK2WO2

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) January 8, 2018

Taking to Twitter, Snowden said, "The journalists exposing the #Aadhaar breach deserve an award, not an investigation. If the government were truly concerned for justice, they would be reforming the policies that destroyed the privacy of a billion Indians. Want to arrest those responsible? They are called @UIDAI," Snowden tweeted.