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'Hello biometricked citizens of India': How Twitter reacted to #Aadharleak for Rs 500 report

Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has denied the report but offered no explanation

Your Aadhaar details including your phone number, mail id and address, are available to anyone for just a payment of Rs 500. And all of this just takes 10 minutes.

An investigation by The Tribune newspaper has revealed a shocking racket operating in Punjab’s Jalandhar, where a user, on the payment of Rs 500 can access full details of around all the 1 billion Aadhaar cards registered across the country till now.

The racket punctures the claims made by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in November where it had said “Aadhaar data is fully safe and secure and there has been no data leak or breach at UIDAI.”

Aadhaar | Source: Indian Express

 

Posing as a customer, the reporter of The Tribune got in touch with a WhatsApp group where operatives promised to ensure unrestricted access to Aadhaar database. Within ten minutes of making a payment of Rs 500 to the group through PayTm, the reporter was given a log in id and password. Once the details were submitted on the gateway, the reporter was able to access each and every detail of an individual by just entering the Aadhaar number.

There’s more shock. The reporter also paid additional Rs 300 to the “agent” to get a software that facilitates in the printing of the Aadhaar card after entering the Aadhaar number of any individual.

This is what your Aadhar number consists of –

  • biometrics
  • e-mail id
  • phone number
  • address

When this breach was brought to the notice of authorities, they were clueless.

“Except the Director-General and I, no third person in Punjab should have a login access to our official portal. Anyone else having access is illegal, and is a major national security breach,” Sanjay Jindal, Additional Director-General, UIDAI Regional Centre, Chandigarh told The Tribune.

Meanwhile, UIDAI, in a brief reaction, has denied the media report and called it a case of misreporting.

 

Union governments have spent more than Rs 8500 crores since the inception of Aadhaar project in 2009.

In December, the Supreme Court had extended the deadline for linking Aadhaar with all government-sponsored welfare schemes and services to March 31, 2018. The court also decided to commence the final hearing on the petitions challenging the legality of the Aadhaar scheme itself from January 17, 2018.

The report evoked strong reactions on social media with some top opposition leaders asking the government to do away with the project.

 

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