UIDAI flags unauthorised Aadhaar services by sites, apps

“It was found that some websites and mobile applications were providing unauthorised Aadhaar related services such as downloading online Aadhaar letters, providing status of Aadhaar generation, printing Aadhaar letters on polyvinyl chloride (PVC) card to residents," minister of state for electronics and IT P.P. Chaudhary said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

He added that UIDAI has forwarded an official complaint to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team and Google India in this regard. “The illegal/unauthorised websites were blocked by department of telecommunication, while the unauthorised mobile applications were removed from the Google Play Store," he said.

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Last month, UIDAI had got shut 12 such websites and mobile apps each. It had also directed authorities for closure of another 26 such fraudulent and illegal websites and mobile applications.

UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey had said some websites and mobile apps were luring citizens to share their basic information and Aadhaar number under the pretext of getting them Aadhaar cards or offering other related services.

At present, any Aadhaar-related demographic information can only be shared following the procedures laid down in the Aadhaar Act, 2016.

Any violation is punishable under Section 38 and Chapter VII of the Aadhaar Act that provides punishment for “Whoever, not being authorised by the Authority, intentionally accesses or secures, downloads, copies or extracts any data from the Central Identities Data Repository or stored in any removable storage medium...".