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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  Aadhaar-linking with mobile numbers decision was taken on Trai suggestion, UIDAI tells SC
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Aadhaar-linking with mobile numbers decision was taken on Trai suggestion, UIDAI tells SC

UIDAI says the govt had a legal basis to link Aadhaar with mobile numbers under the Telegraph Act and such a measure was 'reasonable in the interest of national security'

UIDAI maintains that Aadhaar is backed by a robust system of security and that there has not been a single breach of biometric data from its end. Photo: MintPremium
UIDAI maintains that Aadhaar is backed by a robust system of security and that there has not been a single breach of biometric data from its end. Photo: Mint

New Delhi: Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), through its counsel Rakesh Dwivedi Wednesday conceded it was not the Supreme Court that had mandated linking of Aadhaar with mobile numbers, but this was done on a recommendation of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

He added that the government had a legal basis to link Aadhaar with mobile numbers under provisions of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 and that such a measure was “reasonable in the interest of national security".

UIDAI was responding to a question by justice D.Y. Chandrachud regarding a notification by the department of telecommunications (DoT), which said the linking was being done on the basis of an earlier order by the top court.

Dwivedi also gave examples of how companies like Vodafone had far more demographic data about an individual than UIDAI. He also cited that online grocery story, Bigbasket was capable of knowing a person’s eating habits based on what they buy.

He reiterated that UIDAI, unlike Google, did not have big data, processing power, and statistical know-how to do big data analysis. UIDAI does not have that kind of algorithms, Dwivedi said.

At an earlier hearing, UIDAI which administers Aadhaar, had claimed that data collection for the 12-digit unique identification number cannot be compared with the Cambridge Analytica scandal involving data breach of at least 87 million Facebook users.

Curbing terrorism, money laundering, black money and delivery of subsidies and benefits have been listed by the centre as “legitimate state interests" in rolling out Aadhaar.

UIDAI maintains that Aadhaar is backed by a robust system of security and that there has not been a single breach of biometric data from its end. It was also claimed that Aadhaar has a 2,048-bit encryption key, which worked like a number lock, making it extremely secure.

The matter will continue to be heard on Thursday.

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Published: 25 Apr 2018, 10:15 PM IST
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