UIDAI denies any misuse of Aadhaar biometrics

Unique Identification Authority of India, UIDAI has said there has been no incident of misuse of Aadhaar biometrics leading to identity theft and financial loss. In a clarification following news items reporting breach of Aadhaar data, UIDAI emphasised that there has been no breach to UIDAI database of Aadhaar. UIDAI said Aadhaar based authentication is robust and secure and Aadhaar system has the capability to inquire into any instance of misuse of biometrics and identity theft and initiate action.

UIDAI uses one of world’s most advanced encryption technologies in transmission and storage of data. The statement added that during last 7 seven years, there has been no report of breach or leak of residents’ data. UIDAI has now decided to have registered devices for capturing biometrics data and such biometrics will be encrypted at the point of capture itself.
Aadhaar has helped more than 4.47 crore people to open bank accounts through Aadhaar E-KYC. It has enabled the government to do Direct Benefit Transfer under various schemes. Through Aadhaar based Direct Benefit Transfers the government has saved over 49,000 Crore rupees during the last two and half years.