Parliament panel urges UIDAI to review data security breach

The multi-party panel also raised concerns over biometric discrepancies that lead to beneficiaries being denied benefits and delay in deactivating Aadhaar numbers of people who have passed away.

New Delhi: Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday asked the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to conduct a scientific scrutiny of its central repository that holds biometrics and other personal data of Aadhaar holders, amid reports of data breach.

The multi-party panel headed by senior Congress MP KC Venugopal also raised concerns over biometric discrepancies that lead to beneficiaries being denied benefits and delay in deactivating Aadhaar numbers of people who have passed away.

The issues came up for discussion during the deposition of senior officials of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and UIDAI while examining the subject 'Functioning of Unique Identification Authority of India' based on a CAG report of 2021.

Sources said members, including Venugopal, raised concerns about media reports of data breach and Aadhaar details surfacing on dark web. The MPs said Aadhaar information is easily available and there were regular reports of data breach.

When asked about the chances of data leak, sources said the officials told the MPs that the UIDAI central repository cannot be breached. The officials also claimed the data leak is happening at enrolment centres or elsewhere, as in some cases data is collected on excel sheets.

The officials said whenever they find out such discrepancies and data breach, they take legal action and lodge criminal cases. Sources said the panel asked the UIDAI to conduct a scientific scrutiny of its central repository to ensure that there is no possibility of breaching its security. 

UIDAI officials also requested panel members to visit its Manesar facility from where the central repository functions.

Sources said the MPs also flagged the issue of beneficiaries facing trouble in accessing benefits due to biometric discrepancies. 

With several government agencies insisting on Aadhaar for availing schemes, sources said the MPs told the officials that several people are not getting benefits due to non-matching of biometrics. 

Officials said now face recognition is also being down while promising to look into the issue.

Another issue highlighted by the MPs is the delay in deactivating Aadhaar numbers of dead citizens. There are more active Aadhaar numbers than the population mainly because the deactivation process is slow, the MPs said claiming that it raises the possibility of misuse.

The panel suggested the UIDAI should coordinate with the Registrar General of India and state governments to speed up the deactivation process, sources added.