Aadhaar details have not been compromised, UIDAI tells Madras HC

‘It is not possible to share details in bulk with any entity’

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on Wednesday informed the Madras High Court that it had never shared citizens’ personal data, provided to it for the purpose of obtaining Aadhaar cards, with any entity other than its “authorised user agencies” and that those agencies had been strictly prohibited from storing or sharing any information related to Aadhaar. Appearing before Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, Central government standing counsel V. Chandrasekhar, representing the UIDAI, asserted that it was not possible to share Aadhaar details in bulk with any entity. He also said the UIDAI was committed to protecting the privacy of individuals and that there was no possibility of any leak from the records maintained by it. The submission was made during the hearing of a public interest litigation petition filed by A. Anand of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) through senior counsel R. Vaigai. The litigant complained that the Puducherry unit of the BJP had been sending SMS to voters’ mobile phone numbers with a link to join booth-level WhatsApp groups created by the party for canvassing.