According to a report in The Tribune, published on January 4, the security of your Aadhaar numbers is under serious threat. The UIDAI had stated that Aadhaar numbers and biometric data are safe and secure and yet, reports keep emerging that seriously question their claims.
In the chilling report, Rachna Khaira of the Tribune News Service states how the paper ‘purchased’ a service being offered on WhatsApp by anonymous traders that provide absolute access to any of the one billion or so Aadhaar numbers in India.
“It took just Rs 500, paid through Paytm, and 10 minutes in which an “agent” of the group running the racket created a “gateway” for this correspondent and gave a login ID and password. Lo and behold, you could enter any Aadhaar number in the portal, and instantly get all particulars that an individual may have submitted to the UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India), including name, address, postal code (PIN), photo, phone number and email,” the report recounts.
“The perils of making Aadhaar mandatory and linking it to bank accounts, as insisted upon by Modi govt, are visible here. Do we need more proof to stop this madness?” CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury tweeted.
However, that’s not all.
When the news agency paid a paltry sum of Rs. 300 more, they were given access to a software which facilitated the printing of the Aadhaar card after providing the number.
