COMPANIES SEEK NEW LAW TO PREVENT DISRUPTION

Financial technology( fin tech) companies have voiced concerns over the Supreme Court( SC) verdict on A ad ha ar that disallows private companies from using the biometric data of citizens. They have argued that without authentication, their businesses will be disrupted.

These corporate entities have said the government needs to think about a legislation that reinstates their right to ask for A ad ha ar.

Omidyar Network, which backs India Stack and funds start-ups as well as research on A ad ha ar, said private companies will expect Parliament to pass a favourable law.

“The direction by the court will now require

Parliament top ass laws that allow for specific uses of A ad ha ar for us. Such parliamentary oversight is warranted and desirable ,” said CV Madhukar, global digital identity initiative lead at O mi dy ar Network. Madhuk ar said private companies will need to evolve their business models .“As shown in the State of A ad ha ar report, A ad ha ar based e-KY C( electronic-Know Your Customer) hasled to greater inclusion for under served segments and opening of millions of bank accounts. There is some hope for these companies, with Finance Minister ArunJ a it ley saying there was a need for legislative backing for private companies that were using Aadhaar. Legal experts, however, said introducing a law to bypass the judgment might not be possible, given the court’ s stern stance. “According to the judgment, Section 57...( is an) invasion of a citizen’ s privacy by the private players. Hence, it will be difficult to bring it back through legislation ,” said Prasanth Sugathan, legal director, Software Freedom Law Centre.