In one the major strikes against illegal, unauthorized usage of Aadhaar Card, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has shut down 50 websites, applications which were offering Aadhaar Card based services, without any legal permission.
This surgical strike against illegal usage of Aadhaar database is first such instance when UIDAI has shown some teeth, and straight away took massive action against such entities. UIDAI is a Central Govt. agency which is authorized to collect and protect data pertaining to Aadhaar Cards in India.
This comes after Supreme Court rapped UIDAI over private companies misusing Aadhaar Card and collecting information which was not allowed.
UIDAI In No-Tolerance Mode Now
We have already shared that misusing Aadhaar data is a punishable offense now.
With this action against such website, apps which were unofficially collecting Aadhaar data of Indian citizens, UIDAI has made it clear that these entities were violating Section 38 and Chapter VII of the Aadhaar Act, which states, “Whoever, not being authorised by the Authority, intentionally accesses or secures, downloads, copies or extracts any data from the Central Identities Data Repository or stored in any removable storage medium…”
In a statement, UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey said, “As per Section 70 of the IT Act, the Government has declared the UIDAIs Central Identities Data Repository (CIDR) facilities, Information assets, logistics infrastructure and dependencies installed at UIDAI locations to be critically protected system, “
What Were These Websites/Apps Doing?
As of now, UIDAI has taken strict actions against 12 websites and 12 mobile apps which were available on Google Play Store for download. Besides, 26 other such websites/apps would be soon banned.
These platforms were illegally collecting Aadhaar card data and enrollment details, which could have been used in any illegal manner.
As per information coming in from UIDAI, these services were luring citizens into giving their Aadhaar card information on the pretext of offering misc. services like auto loans, home loans, credit score, providing status of Aadhaar generation, and even creating PVC form of Aadhaar card (plastic card).
UIDAI has strictly said that they will keep on monitoring such unofficial usage of Aadhaar Card, and will clamp down on more such services in the future. Besides, action would also be taken against those businesses, websites which are using Aadhaar logo, as it violates several sections of the Aadhaar Act and Copyright Act.
UIDAI has once again notified the public at large that UIDAI.gov.in is the only official website for any information related to Aadhaar Card, and for any Aadhaar related services, they should either visit this website or contact authorized Common Service Centres or Aadhaar Permanent Enrolment Centres.
This move should have been done long back as it directly compromises the identity of every citizen. Anyways, right move.