11679 - Govt says no Aadhaar data leak from UIDAI but bank details made public at times - Money Control

Jul 28, 2017 02:31 PM IST | Source: Moneycontrol.com

Minister of State for Electronics PP Chaudhary on Wednesday said that there have been instances where sensitive data such as bank account  details collected by several ministries/state government departments for their welfare schemes have reportedly been published online.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Chaudhary said that data theft is possible if assets are not secured properly but there has been no incident of data breach or hacking so far in respect to Aadhaar Data and Central Identities Data Repository (CIDR), when he was asked whether data  breaches  and  hacking  is  a  regular  phenomenon  witnessed by the  information technology department.

Last week, around 210 websites of the central and state government departments were reported to have displayed personal details and Aadhaar numbers of many beneficiaries.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) had taken note of the incident and removed the personal details from the said websites.

Below is the complete reply of PP Chaudhary on the matter.

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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 26.07.2017

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

(a) whether the data breaches and hacking is the regular phenomenon of the information

technology;

(b)

if so, India’s secured rate of prevention of decryption on the privacy and security systems of the

 public utility services including biometrics therefor;

(c) whether it has come to the notice of the Ministry that there have been instances wherein

 personal identity or information of residents, along with Aadhaar numbers and demographic

information and other sensitive personal data have been leaked and published online, if so, the

details thereof and the compensation likely to be provided to the individuals; and

(d) the progress of Aadhaar projects in the country and whether the Government further plans for

single identification number combining PAN, Aadhaar, Election Card, Ration Card and bank

account thereof and if so, the details therefor?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY)

(a): Data breaches and hacking is possible on the assets of Information Technology if they are not

 properly secured and configured. No incidents of data breach and hacking have been reported so far

in respect of Aadhaar Data and Central Identities Data Repository (CIDR).

(b): Does not arise in view of (a) above.

(c): There has been no leakage of Aadhaar data from UIDAI. However, some instances have come

to the notice of the Government wherein personal identity or information of the residents including

Aadhaar number and demographic information and sensitive data such as bank account details

collected by several Ministries/State Government Departments in the administration of their welfare

schemes has been reportedly published online. The Secretaries of all the Ministries/Departments and

the Chief Secretaries of all the State/UTs have been advised by the Government of India in the

Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology in March 2017 and April 2017 to refrain from

such publishing and also that any such contents already published or still appearing publicly may be

discontinued with immediate effect.

There is no proposal/provision for providing compensation to individuals in this regard.

(d): As on date, more than 116 crore Aadhaar numbers have been generated for residents of India.

Presently, the Government is not considering any proposal of providing a single identification

number.

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