Top court poses 7 questions to Centre on Aadhaar data privacy

NEWDELHI: AG VENUGOPAL BEGAN HIS SUBMISSIONS WITH AN ASSURANCE TO THE BENCH THAT STRICT MEASURES HAVE BEEN UNDERTAKEN TO SECURE THE DATA

The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Centre to address apprehensions raised by parties opposed to the Aadhaar, that aggregation and collection of data would lead to mass virtual surveillance and exclusion of a particular class for want of the biometric identity.

The country’s top law officer, attorney general KK Venugopal, sought to assure the court that the government would not deny benefits to citizens on the grounds of not having the unique identity number, if they possess an alternate identification proof.

A bench led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra formulated six questions for Venugopal, based on the arguments advanced by 30 petitioners challenging Aadhaar. The bench told the AG that he must first meet the legal contentions. The AG had wanted the bench to see a power point presentation by the CEO of UIDAI – the agency that issues the 12-digit identity number.

“Petitioners rely on privacy and say my individual dignity cannot be compromised. They say I love my anonymity and my privacy is my preserve,” the CJI told Venugopal, framing the points of arguments. He said the Centre must respond to whether collection of data could lead to the “path of surveillance,” may not be physical but virtual; can there be a “’stalking culture” to brand all the citizens with the same stamp; whether the government can impose a scheme on the citizens who should be given an alternative to exit; shouldn’t the data collected before the a formal law came in place in 2016 be destroyed; is registration of data safe despite an assurance that measures have been taken; and lastly, can steps taken to secure data be counter-productive.

Arguments on behalf of the petitioners, including social activists and a retired high court judge, concluded on Tuesday.