Customers fume over the practice, say it is a breach of privacy Now, Amazon asks Aadhaar details

failed delivery. An executive of the company said, “The practice has started by our customer support service unit after a missing delivery. Customers should upload a scanned copy of their Aadhaar on their Amazon account.”

Many customers said that their complaints are not processed until the Aadhaar details are not supplied. Some customers were even more jolted as the delivery boy refused to part with the product without the Aadhaar.

Surabhi Purashkar, a student, tweeted her complaint to the company, saying that the duvet she had ordered was yet to be received despite the company claiming that the delivery was made. She later replied to her post, saying, “The company got in touch with me and asked me for my Aadhaar to sort it out. It does not make sense!”

Many Amazon India customers claimed that it was a breach of privacy, and questioned how lost packages were tracked before the Aadhaar. Many also said that it was a ploy by the company to waste time and money of customers.

Rami Reddy, deputy director-general of UIDAI, Hyderabad, says, “No one can poke into your data. People should not share their Aadhaar details with online sites. Only authorised service providers by UIDAI can do the same.” He further asked citizens to question those who asked for Aadhaar verification if the UIDAI has permitted them to do so.

Owing to security concerns, the UIDAI has strictly asked e-commercial sites not to let their merchants ask for Aadhaar details. Regional UIDAI officials also warned citizens to be cautious and as long as there is a tracking ID on the parcel, no extra information is to be given.