The news taking the media by storm for a second alarming revealation that questions the credibility of privacy which was guranteed while taking Aadhaar data. Many were astouned to find the scale of exposure for such a privacy data.
A simple search on Google search engine can reveal all the details of several individuals related to Aadhaar. We have no clue for such a risk whether how and why all the credentials of a person is being put on stake. The search can reveal all the details like name, address, Aadhaar number, date of birth and photos of a particular individual. Any person with wrong intentions can use this data which is easily available over the internet. But something is to cheer about, yes, the reason for this is that the biometric details are not available over the internet.
The small list of online websites that have uploaded Aadhaar details of individuals include:
Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (www.incois.gov.in) – Official Government Website
All India Football Federation (www.the-aiff.com) – Official Government Website
Starcards India (http://starcardsindia.com), a service provider of payment gateway service, mobile app development and mobile app design based in Hyderabad – A Private Company Website.
Way to accessing Aadhaar details:
Here’s the guide to easily find find the Aadhaar details of unknown people.
Step 1: Search on Google “mera aadhaar meri pehchan filetype:pdf”
Step 2: Go through any of the multiple PDF files that show up on the search
Step 3: Download PDF
Step 4: All the details of Aadhaar of random strangers are now available to be used.
The details of Aadhaar that you will be able to access are as follows:
Name
Aadhaar number
Parent’s name
Address
Date of birth
Photograph
This revealation raises some Questions:
Here are some of the questions as listed below which arise due to the revelation:
What is main purpose for publishing all the details of Aadhaar of several individuals, which can be accessed by any type of person, organisation, from anywhere in the World?
Were those who uploaded the detail aware of their misdoing, such that they were putting at risk the data of their own too?
Is not this a case of infringement of the person’s privacy guranteed under the Indian Constitution?
And in case if the officials incharge are not aware about the details being available online publicly, then the following questions need to be answered:
What was the driving concern for them to upload Aadhaar details of these individuals? What was the end result they wanted as an outcome after uploading these PDFs online?
If it was done without any intention for a government website (www.incois.gov.in), is there no awareness in the government agencies to protect public’s confidential data with Aadhaar details?
Who should be held as culprit in the whole game of data divulgence and leak?
For these questions to be answered, the agency that should be held responsible is UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India). They need to answer each and every question in the interest of general public. The whole story proves that the Government agencies has played down on security and privacy of such confidential data again, over the time.