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Two days after it issued an advisory cautioning people against sharing a photocopy of their Aadhar card, the government withdrew the notification.
About Advisory
- Citizens should share their Aadhaar details only with entities that have a user licence from UIDAI.
- It did not specify how to verify this user licence.
- Unlicenced private entities like hotels or film halls are not permitted to collect or keep copies of Aadhaar cards. It is an offence under Aadhaar Act 2016.
- If a private entity demands to see your Aadhaar card, or seeks a photocopy of your Aadhaar card, please verify that they have valid User Licence from the UIDAI.
- Ministry advised to exercise normal prudence in using and sharing of the Aadhaar details, without elaborating on what “normal prudence” constitutes.
- Aadhaar identity authentication ecosystem has provided adequate features for protecting and safeguarding the identity and privacy of the Aadhaar holder.
- Reason given for withdrawal: the advisory was withdrawn because it could be “misinterpreted”.
CAG flagged privacy risk
- The Comptroller and Auditor General of India had noted in April that UIDAI had not ensured that the applications or devices used by agencies or private firms for Aadhaar authentication were capable of storing personal information which put the privacy of residents at risk.
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Supreme Court
- In 2018, the Supreme Court had struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act which essentially allowed private entities to collect citizens’ Aadhaar details.
- Soon after the judgement, however, the UIDAI had clarified to banks that Aadhaar know-your-customer (eKYC) can be used to authenticate beneficiaries of government subsidies and welfare schemes, paving the way for private banks to use the document to identify beneficiaries of government welfare schemes.
- Later, the Centre issued the Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019, which allowed banks and telecom operators to collect Aadhaar details as a proof of identity.
- After the Centre launched the Covid-19 vaccination programme, a plea was filed in the Supreme Court in 2021 claiming that the Aadhaar card was being mandatorily insisted upon for administering vaccines.
- The government then informed the top court that Aadhaar was not mandatory for registration on the vaccination portal CoWin.
Image Courtesy: PB
What is Masked Aadhar?
- Mask Aadhaar option allows one to mask Aadhaar number in downloaded e-Aadhaar.
- Masked Aadhaar number implies replacing the first 8 digits of Aadhaar number with some characters like “xxxx-xxxx” while only the last 4 digits of the Aadhaar Number are visible
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Significance
- The advisory will help in making people more aware of the frauds happening by misusing Aadhar of other people.
- Masked Aadhar will help people be protected at one layer.
- Privacy issues will fall in the Masked Aadhar.
Way Ahead
- The Aadhaar Identity Authentication ecosystem has provided adequate features for protecting and safeguarding the identity and privacy of the Aadhaar holder but still the holder needs to be aware of the threats and issues that come along with the card.
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Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)
- The UIDAI is a statutory authority established under the provisions of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 (“Aadhaar Act 2016”) on 12 July 2016 by the Government of India, under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
- The Aadhaar Act 2016 has been amended by the Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Act, 2019 (14 of 2019) w.e.f. 25.07.2019.
- UIDAI was created to issue Unique Identification numbers (UID), named as “Aadhaar”, to all residents of India. The UID had to be –
- robust enough to eliminate duplicate and fake identities, and
- verifiable and authenticable in an easy, cost-effective way.
- As on 31st October 2021, the Authority has issued 131.68 crore Aadhaar numbers to the residents of India.
- Under the Aadhaar Act 2016, UIDAI is responsible for Aadhaar enrolment and authentication, including operation and management of all stages of Aadhaar life cycle, developing the policy, procedure, and system for issuing Aadhaar numbers to individuals and perform authentication and the security of identity information and authentication records of individuals.
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Source: BT + TH
