American Whistle blower, Edward Snowden says ‘Aadhaar is open for abuse’

A day after when the reports start to make you can buy Aadhaar details of 1 billion people at just Rs 500, an American whistleblower Edward Snowden said on Friday that the Aadhaar database conceived and introduced by the Indian government can also be misused and abused.

Retweeting CBS journalist Zack Whittaker’s response on a BuzzFeed report on the breach of Aadhaar database in India, Snowden said, “It is the natural tendency of government to desire perfect records of private lives. History shows that no matter the laws, the result is abuse.”

Whittaker had earlier said, “ICYMI. India has a national ID database with the private information of nearly 1.2 billion nationals. It’s reportedly been breached. Admin accounts can be made and access can be sold to the database, reports BuzzFeed.”

It is the natural tendency of government to desire perfect records of private lives. History shows that no matter the laws, the result is abuse. https://t.co/7HSQSZ4T3f

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) January 4, 2018

When the reports of data breach came to the light, the Unique Identification Authority of India said on Thursday that the Aadhaar data including the biometric information is fully safe and secure. The Authority also rubbishes the claim of The Tribune report titled ‘Rs 500, 10 minutes, and you have access to billion Aadhaar details’ as a case of misreporting.

“There has not been any Aadhaar data breach. The Aadhaar data including biometric information is fully safe and secure,” the UIDAI said in a statement.

The development came in the wake of the light when the matter is pending in Supreme Court and began the final hearing of petitions challenging the legality of Aadhaar programme based on privacy concerns on January 17. In August 2017, the Supreme Court held that privacy is a fundamental right under the Constitution of India.