Days after Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI’s) chief R.S. Sharma shared his Aadhaar number on Twitter challenging users to obtain his personal information by hacking Aadhaar, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) issued a statement on Tuesday, warning people against posting their Aadhaar number online.
Following Sharma’s act, several social media users shared their Aadhaar details online, challenging hackers to fetch their private phone numbers, home addresses and bank account details. UIDAI then released a statement and advised people to “refrain from publicly putting their Aadhaar numbers on internet and social media and posing challenges to others.”
UIDAI stated that such acts are “not in accordance with law” and the concerned person shall be punished under the law. “This advisory has come with reference to some news items appearing on social media reporting few people publicly posting their Aadhaar numbers on internet and social media and posing challenges to others. Such activities are uncalled for and should be refrained as these are not in accordance with the law. Aadhaar is a unique identity which can be authenticated to prove one’s identity for various services, benefits and subsidies.”
The Aadhaar governing body asserted that “Aadhaar number is personally sensitive information” and should not be shared unless for legitimate reasons. “In our regular media campaigns, we have been consistently making people aware not to display or publish or share their Aadhaar number in public domain. We emphasise that people should not display or publish their Aadhaar number in public. Aadhaar number is personally sensitive information like bank account number, passport number, PAN number, etc., which should be strictly shared only on a need basis for a legitimate use for establishing identity and for legitimate transactions.”
In its statement, the agency also cited the Aadhaar Act, 2016 and IT Rules, 2011 and Justice Srikrishna’s proposed Data Protection Bill, all of which stipulate that one should share or publish their personal information.
UIDAI also warned people against using other person’s Aadhaar number for authentication. Such an act shall amount to impersonation and thus, punishable under law. “Also, it is advised that doing Aadhaar authentication through somebody else’s Aadhaar number or using someone else’s Aadhaar number for any purpose may amount to impersonation and thereby a criminal offence under the Aadhaar Act and Indian Penal Code.”
Defending the actions of Sharma, UIDAI had released another statement on Sunday where the agency said that Aadhaar is completely ‘safe and secure’ and the hackers claiming to obtained Sharma’s personal information via his Aadhaar number are only spreading lies.