WHAT AADHAAR CHIEF SAID
conceded to the court that authentication through Aadhaar is not 100% successful. “We constantly advise ministries that on the ground there will be exclusion if they solely depend on Aadhaar authentication. Which is why in law exceptions have been made,” Pandey said.
Rebutting the argument that Aadhar was exclusionary, Pandey told the court that for people with leprosy, eye problems and other disorders where collecting biometrics was difficult, an Aadhaar data has 2,048-bit encryption and it will take the world’s fastest computer more than the age of the universe to break the key
The software was designed by three foreign companies but data is not shared with them, and the software is used offline
Source code for the software is not shared by the creating companies
Biometric authentication through Aadhaar is not 100% sucessful and there will be exclusions if the government depends solely on it exception was made and they were being issued Aadhar cards. It is not linked to citizenship and includes transgenders and children within its scope, he added.
Expressing concern on failure of authentication, Justice DY Chandrachud said, “Denial of service on the ground of (lack of) authentication has to be remedied.”
Meanwhile, the attorney general, who argued the matter in the morning relied on a 2015 World Bank report in support of the
Aadhar project.
However, Justice Chandrachud pointed out that the World Bank report itself had raised issues about the lack of legal frame work around the project.
UIDAI CEO Pandey also made a philosophical pitch for the Aadhaar, submitting that “for ages people have struggled with the basic question Who am I? Aadhar answers this by giving an individual an identity.”
The hearing will continue on Tuesday next week.