20K Aadhaar numbers leaked on govt website in Ludhiana
INFO ON APPLICANTS WHO HAD APPLIED FOR EWS HOUSES WAS POSTED ON GLADA WEBSITE; REMOVED AFTER HT BROUGHT IT TO OFFICIALS’ NOTICE ON MONDAY
LUDHIANA: Posing a grave risk of misuse of private information, details of 20,000 Aadhaar cards belonging to residents of Ludhiana and Jagraon were posted on the official website of the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA).
While the GLADA officials were initially ignorant of the breach, they took corrective measures after the matter was brought to their notice by Hindustan Times on Monday. They removed the information from the website by the evening.
A list of applicants, who belong to economically weaker section (EWS) and had applied for house under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, was posted on the GLADA website.
The personal details of applicants were available on the website that could be accessed by anyone, raising concern over misuse of Aadhaar information.
The applications were invited for EWS houses in Ludhiana and Jagraon in 2016. Later, GLADA uploaded the results of the draw of lots for 1,450 houses. These lists revealed the name of applicant, his or her father’s name and Aadhaar number.
According to Section 29 (4) of the Aadhaar Act, no Aadhaar number or core biometric information collected or created under this Act can be published, displayed or posted publicly, except for the specified purposes.
Satish Thaman, member, Ludhiana district (west sub-division) grievances redressal committee, said, “If any government department has published a list of applicants with their Aadhaar numbers, their information can get leaked. It is a grave threat to the privacy of residents as Aadhaar information can be misused.”
He added, “If the information gets leaked, it can create trouble for Aadhaar card holders. If Aadhaar number is required for any service, the government must ensure privacy of citizens.”
Opposition parties and cyber security experts have already been raising questions over linking of Aadhaar number to avail various schemes and services by the government. The Supreme Court had also set up a constitution bench to look into the matter last month.
Meanwhile, GLADA authorities were clueless as to how the Aadhaar numbers have been published on the official website. Additional chief administrator (ACA) Neeru Katyal Gupta said, “I will look into the matter.”
GLADA chief administrator Parminder Singh Gill said, “I have spoken to the official concerned who informed me that no Aadhaar card number was uploaded on the website. The GLADA’s website is being operated PUDA (Punjab Urban Development Authority) headquarters in Mohali. We are trying to contact the headquarters in this regard.”
Later in the evening, GLADA removed both lists (applicants’ list and list of beneficiaries of the housing scheme) from its official website. The link is no longer available on the website.