Govt withdraws advisory against Aadhar warning after online panic

Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique-identity number that is issued to all Indian residents, and the process of obtaining the ‘Aadhaar Card’ involves collection of citizens’ fingerprints, retina scans as well as their face photos. It is one of the biggest biometric databases on the planet with around 1.2 billion enrolments, covering around 89% of India’s population. Infosys had designed to simplify the bureaucratic nature of government schemes in India. Before the creation and advent of Aadhaar, availing the benefits of government programs was very difficult and taxing for the poor.

It involved filing a lot of complicated paperwork, providing several proofs of residence and identification and also required people to take time off work to complete these requirements. Aadhaar has since then replaced most requirements for identification proof and is usually the only document required to avail a government scheme.

The Aadhaar card is now linked with services such as driving license, school scholarships, cooking gas subsidies, passports, pensions and provident fund accounts. The Aadhaar card is also being considered for provision of the services provided by the Indian Railway System, especially the online reservation process. One of the major criticisms of Aadhaar has been the numerous major security lapses that have been omnipresent in the workings of Aadhaar and which have as a result made the system prone to data leaks.

Aadhaar is the world’s largest biometric identity system. There have been several reports, Aadhaar data was being accessed by unauthorized personnel working for the government.

The Supreme Court in 2018 upheld the validity of the Aadhar, but flagged privacy concerns and reined in a government push to make it mandatory for everything from banking to telecom services. On May 27, A regional office of UIDAI, the body that oversees the national biometric ID system Aadhaar, warned users recently that “unlicensed private entities” such as hotels and theatre halls are “not permitted to collect or keep copies of Aadhaar,” a 12-digit unique number that ties an individual’s fingerprints and retina scan, and people should avoid sharing photocopies of their Aadhaar to prevent misuse.

The warning prompted an immediate and wide backlash from individuals. Two days after the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) issued an advisory directing Indians not to give photocopies of their Aadhaar cards to various organisations, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) has withdrawn the notice, urging citizens instead to exercise “normal prudence” while using the universal IDs. It had recommended using a ‘masked Aadhaar’ instead, which allows organisations to view the last four digits of an individual’s Aadhaar card.

However, in view of the possibility of the misinterpretation of the press release, the same stands withdrawn with immediate effect. Security experts say, Aadhaar was not meant to directly replace other forms of ID, it was meant to be used for biometric authentication wherein a person’s fingerprint or iris scan is matched with their Aadhaar number against a central database. When it is used simply as a photo-ID, it becomes more vulnerable to being duplicated or faked because it lacks any traditional security features that are present in other photo-IDs such as a microchip, hologram, or an official seal.

Dr. Deepak Kumar Sahu, President & CEO, VARINDIA