New Delhi: After reports emerged of a Bengaluru-based techie managing to hack the Aadhaar (individual citizen data) database, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on Friday rubbished rumours that the Aadhaar system had been breached.
“Some news items have appeared in a section of print and social media regarding the alleged leakage/unauthorised access of Aadhaar data through an app developed by an individual based in Bengaluru. The UIDAI has carefully gone into the matter and would like to inform and reassure public that there is no breach of any Aadhaar data and compromise of individuals’ privacy and security in this case,” UIDAI chief AB Pandey said in a statement.
The Authority said the said app was trying to provide Aadhaar verification to individuals who wanted to download their own demographic data. It was only done upon receiving their consent.
“After an inquiry into this matter by UIDAI, it was found that the residents were using this app to download their own demographic data after giving their consent through OTP [one-time password] received on their own Aadhaar linked mobiles. In other words, residents were downloading their own demographic data such as name, address, gender, etc. through this app. Hence, alleged privacy violations reported in some section[s] of media [are] not true as no one could get data of any other person through this app,” the statement read.
UIDAI asked citizens not to disclose their Aadhaar number to any unauthorised app.
“The residents should share or provide their Aadhaar numbers only to the official government sites, authorised agencies, banks, and telecom companies and other service providers after doing due diligence and verifying the authenticity of such sites. In case of any doubt, the residents [should] seek the help of UIDAI helpline to reaffirm whether the website or app is authorised or not,” the authority said.
Even though people downloaded their own demographic data through the app, UIDAI is mulling legal action against the owner of the app since it was not authorised to provide such details.
“It is further reiterated that data of not even a single non-consenting resident has been given by UIDAI through this App. Therefore, any media report suggesting breach of UIDAI’s Aadhaar database or CIDR is completely incorrect. Aadhaar data remains fully safe and secure,” he added.
The demographic data relates to age, sex, address and mobile phone number of an individual. It differs from biometric data, which pertains to iris and fingerprints.
