Why Modi govt is amending Aadhaar Act and what it means for your privacy

Critics allege that with the new Bill, the Centre is looking to circumvent the Supreme Court order passed earlier this year.

The Narendra Modi government has introduced a Bill in parliament that propose amendments to various laws that underpin the Aadhaar ecosystem, in a move that comes after a Supreme Court verdict earlier this year curtailed the sprawling nature of India’s biometric authentication programme.

The Aadhaar And Other Laws (Amendment) Bill 2018, which was passed by the cabinet two weeks ago and introduced by information technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, contains a host of amendments that have to be passed to comply with various aspects of the apex court’s judgements.

These include: provisions to help make the biometric scheme voluntary, clauses that will allow the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to more effectively police its ecosystem and options to cancel Aadhaar numbers when one turns 18.

The most controversial change, however, are two proposed amendments to the Telegraph Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The amendments will allow banks and telecom operators to continue using voluntary Aadhaar authentication as a means of linking Aadhaar numbers to bank accounts and mobile SIM cards.

Critics and privacy advocates say that these two amendments specifically are in contravention of the Supreme Court judgement.

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“The Supreme Court…. explicitly prohibited use of Aadhaar by private parties by declaring Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016, as unconstitutional. This section provided grounds for Aadhaar-based authentication by private entities as well,” a statement by Rethink Aadhaar, a non-partisan campaign that is critical of the UID project, said on Tuesday.

“The present bill proposes amendments to the Aadhaar Act, Telegraph Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act which will circumvent the SC judgment, and allow the continued use of Aadhaar-based e-KYC authentication by private entities for mobile and banking services, respectively,” it added.

When Prasad introduced the Bill in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, it drew sharp criticism from opposition party members.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said that it would enable “private organisations to get Aadhaar details which is in violation of the Supreme Court judgement” and that it failed to protect the right to privacy.

Business Standard