If you have Aadhaar card and it is linked to your bank account, you are in trouble. Your data is no longer secure.
Indian Government has officially acknowledged that Aadhaar data of individuals has been leaked into public domain. This data includes Aadhaar number and other sensitive information.
The worst thing is that the government has ignored all warnings and criticisms about the UID data and its insecure usage. The Government was blindly trying to push Aadhaar without taking care of security.
A letter written by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology confirmed the data leak. The letter reads, “There have been instances wherein personal identity or information of residents, including Aadhaar number and demographic information and other sensitive personal data such as bank account details etc. collected by various Ministries/Departments… has been reportedly published online and is accessible through an easy online search.”
The official also noted that the leaking a data in public domain. It is a clear contravention of provisions of the Aadhaar Act, 2016. If one found guilty, he will be punished with imprisonment of up to three years.
The letter also says that agencies responsible for this data leak are liable to pay damages in the form of compensation to persons affected.
Finance Minister defended the usage of Aadhaar and said, “If the firewalls can be broken and hacking can take place, then hacking will take place anywhere. It is not a ground that hacking takes place only because Aadhaar is there.”
“The only way to prevent hacking is to strengthen the firewalls. Technology always is a learning experience,” he added.
He was talking about firewalls and prevention of hacking, but the government ignores the security of Aadhaar data. In the case of Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s data posted on Twitter, the government the blacklisted the Aadhaar center for 10 years. But that was just one of those minor cases.
With over billions of Indians having Aadhaar card, data theft issue can turn into a big crisis for us.
If someone has access to all Aadhar data, think how secure Aadhar payment will be. I hope the government will take this seriousyl and monitor the usage of Aadhar.
