Mammoth task to audit, erase Aadhaar data

Individuals can complain about theft of their Aadhaar data, court rules

Terming the Supreme Court verdict on Aadhaar a breath of fresh air for Indian citizens, experts yesterday said a completely new regime has to be put in place to protect the Aadhaar data that is being held by private companies.

Stating that private entities or individuals cannot use Aadhaar data to provide consumer services, the apex court struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act which allowed sharing of data with private entities.

It means that telecom companies, e-commerce firms and private banks cannot ask for biometric and other data from consumers to provide their services.

50 FIRs filed

“The Aadhaar verdict is a huge sigh of relief for citizens. The humongous task now is to ensure that the data that is already with private companies is not misused or sold,” Pavan Duggal, one of the nation’s leading cyber law experts, said.

“The data now needs to be dismantled but the onus is to make sure companies do not make copies of the data and use it to monetise their operations. The big question is which agency will audit this humongous task,” added Duggal, who is also a leading Supreme Court lawyer.

The apex court also said that Aadhaar data can’t be shared with security agencies in the name of upholding national security and individuals too can complain about theft of their Aadhaar data.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), said Duggal, had already lodged more than 50 first information reports (FIRs) against private companies for Aadhaar data breaches.

“Today’s judgement as read out in court signals massive changes in the Aadhaar project and the Act. The legitimacy of its stated purposes is destroyed. Even the majority signals significant concern by reading down portions,” tweeted New Delhi-based lawyer Apar Gupta.