Aadhaar spat: Snowden says ex-RAW chief backs claim
Rachel Chitra | TNN | Jan 22, 2018, 05:37 IS
CHENNAI: Whistleblower Edward Snowden on Sunday got into a Twitter argument with UIDAI. When UIDAI tweeted that Aadhaar enabled identification and not profiling, Snowden responded that this was not the case.
"#Aadhaar is an identifier, not a profiling tool. Aadhaar database does not keep any information about bank accounts, shares, mutual funds, property details, health records, family details, religion, caste, education etc. #AadhaarMythBuster," tweeted UIDAI.
To this, Snowden responded, "That might be true if banks, landlords, hospitals, schools, telephone & internet companies were prohibited by law from asking for your #Aadhaar number."
Aadhaar abused by banks, telcos and transport, says Snowden
"But any Indian can tell you they're asked for their number by non-government entities — and those companies have databases too," Snowden responded.
Snowden had on January 9 expressed support for a newspaper reporter who alleged that one could purchase Aadhaar data for as little as ₹500.
On Sunday, he quoted an article by a former RAW chief (K C Verma, from an online news website from a day earlier), which stated: "Aadhaar every tuppenny bureaucrat has discovered a new instrument of harassment..
"Rarely do former intel chiefs and I agree, but the head of India's RAW writes #Aadhaar is being abused by banks, telcos, and transport not to police entitlements, but as a proxy for identity — an improper gate to service. Such demands must be criminalised," Snowden tweeted.
Snowden also retweeted other posts about how "operators, banks were threatening users with disconnection of service if they fail to link their #Aadhaar... No SIM card, insurance, bank account or delivery of goods shopped online."
Snowden also retweeted Microsoft regional manager and Australian cybersecurity advisor Troy Hunt and French hacker and researcher Elliot Alderson's posts on how the Aadhaar database can be hacked. Alderson's account posted a screenshot-by-screenshot account — of another hacker's claim — of how, purportedly, it is possible to hack UIDAI's system.