In a serious data breach, personally identifiable information of 815 million Indians has been up on the dark web for sale, according to a report by US-based cybersecurity firm Resecurity. Details such as Aadhaar and passport information along with names, phone numbers and addresses are available for sale online, it has said.
UIDAI has asked police to investigate, it was not fully convinced about nature of the incident
The next time when you apply for a visa for Britain, you will have to furnish your finger scans and digital photographs. The British High Commission is set to introduce biometric data collection procedure from Wednesday to check cases of identity fraud.
A form carrying questions as part of the NPR exercise will be finalised soon, ministry officials said. The information available on the website of the office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, however, says the NPR database would contain demographic as well as biometric details.
Pakistan, which is witnessing an influx of Tehreek-i-Taliban terrorists in significant numbers in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's tribal districts, is also facing a threat from the Islamic State (ISIS) which is trying to establish a foothold in the country, the ministry of interior has said.
'Why does a State that sees a national security issue at every turn not recognise the seriousness of the data from sensitive databases being breached?'
The ruling Mizo National Front led by Zoramthanga is looking for a second straight term in the 2023 assembly polls.
The government would have to assure the Supreme Court that collection of biometric data under Aadhaar does not violate privacy.
The report touches on variety of issues including consent, rights of children, data protection authority and right to recall data.
Since the deadline for Justice B N Srikrishna Committee's feedback is December 31, the government is unlikely to table a data protection Bill in the winter session of Parliament.
Seeking to rope in youngsters to promote cashless transactions, Modi said for every person you introduce to the BHIM app, you will get a cash back of Rs 10.
Aadhaar is falling behind on technology, missing out on confidentiality and has gaps in its data archiving policy and preserving confidentiality in delivery of the cards to people, says a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). The performance report, 'Functioning Of Unique Identification Authority Of India', tabled in Parliament on the last day of the budget session notes, assigning a unique identity to all resident Indians was supposed to be the key feature of Aadhaar. But "There were instances of issue of Aadhaar with the same biometric data to different residents indicating flaws in the de-duplication process and issue of Aadhaar on faulty biometrics and documents". It says close to half a million such records had to be cancelled by the Unique Identification Authority of India up to 2016.
The amendment says that UIDAI can now give directions as it may consider necessary to any entity in the Aadhaar ecosystem
'If Indians are to be truly protected, Parliament must review and address these dangerous provisions before they become law.'
'The government's proposal to store citizens' data including Aadhaar data under its Digital India initiative on cloud is violative of the citizens' human rights because the cloud is admittedly beyond India's jurisdiction.'
How can Aadhaar be deemed 'voluntary' if service delivery is being made dependent on it, asks Gopal Krishna
The need of the hour, as the Supreme Court readies to rule on the constitutionality of Aadhaar, is for the UIDAI to fix the bugs, says Geetanjali Krishna, in the second and final part of her series.
There are unprecedented political implications of identification based on 'biological attributes of an individual', such as employed by Aadhaar, warns Gopal Krishna.
The authority said in response to a report based on RTI that 210 government website made Aadhaar information public .
The Telecommunications Bill, 2023, which was passed by a voice vote after a short debate, also allows the Centre to take possession of a telecom network in case of any public emergency or in the interest of public safety.
The report warns that it is possible for terrorists to fake documents such as passports and entry visas to cross international borders.
An Israeli scientist has revealed security holes in America's passports and "smart cards".
The UIDAI issued a strong rebuttal to Moody's Investors Service which claimed that the Aadhaar system often results in service denials and the reliability of biometric technologies, especially for manual labourers, in hot and humid climates is questionable.
Sources said the two Acts will be amended to provide for voluntary sharing of the 12-digit identification number for obtaining new mobile phone connections and for the opening of bank accounts.
From round-the-clock surveillance of people and equipment to choosing the right materials for the building that contains the servers that store data, these facilities are truly state-of-the-art.
Recently, an Air India flyer sent a legal notice to the airline seeking damages of Rs 30 lakh for the breach of personal data of 4.5 million passengers, including her husband and herself. Air India had informed the complainant of the data leak a month earlier, after it emerged that its passenger service system provider fell prey to a cyberattack in February. However, in the absence of a data protection law, India lacks a mechanism for compensation or grievance redress of consumers in such cases, say experts. Advocate Virag Gupta, a New Delhi-based cyber law expert, explains that a legal notice is a good beginning in the Air India case, but it raises many questions. These include whether sensitive personal information has been leaked and whether the airline is responsible or not, given that a passenger service system provider was also involved.
In the ongoing hearing of the matter related to the constitutional validity of linking Aadhaar card to a number of government schemes, Divan who is appearing for the petitioners, said that a people's constitution was being converted into a state's Constitution and it was incorrect to take people's biometric data for Aadhaar.
Refuting the opposition's claim that Manipur 'is burning', a senior government functionary said on Thursday that no killing has happened in the state since July 18 and asserted that peace and normalcy will be restored soon through ongoing talks with the two warring communities -- Meiteis and Kukis.
Messages sent through Internet-based messaging service providers such as Whatsapp, Signal, and Telegram, as well as those which are encrypted, are understood to be within the Act's ambit.
The problems stem from a hardware failure in a State Department.
The Commission has desired to incorporate Aadhaar-based fingerprint authentication (else digital fingerprint capturing) and facial recognition of candidates, scanning of QR Code of e-admit cards and monitoring through live AI-based CCTV video surveillance, it said.
Sibal said the party will certainly move the court if amendments in the Aadhaar Act to be brought after this verdict are not brought in Rajya Sabha for discussion.
In emails to the UIDAI, they have also asked for details about the organisations with whom their Aadhaar numbers had been shared.
In order to reduce government litigations, the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the GST Council has fixed a monetary limit for filing appeals by the tax department before the various appellate authorities. It has recommended a monetary limit of Rs 20 lakh for GST Appellate Tribunal, Rs 1 crore for the High Court and Rs 2 crore for the Supreme Court for filing of appeals by the department before these legal forums, she said after the 53rd GST Council meeting held in New Delhi.
'This updated NPR database along with Aadhaar Number would become the mother database and can be used by various government departments...' the home ministry declared in July 2015. 'UID/Aadhaar has been used as a fish bait to ensnare and entrap present and future generations of citizens,' warns Gopal Krishna.
India does not have a stringent privacy or data protection Act.
From your fingerprint to most private images and financial info -- all your privacy is under constant threat from hackers.
The NPR data can be used for transparent and efficient delivery of social benefits by linking it with various beneficiary oriented government schemes, they said.
Senior counsel, Diwedi submitted that technology is advancing and we have limitations of understanding the technological developments.
The bill was passed by a voice vote after Shah sought to allay concerns raised by the Opposition, which claimed the draft law was "draconian".
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