UIDAI said in a statement that data on government websites was placed in public domain as a measure of proactive disclosure under RTI Act by the government and institutional websites which included beneficiaries’ name, address, bank account, and other details, including Aadhaar number and was collected from the third party/users for various welfare schemes. It was this collected information which had been displayed in the public domain under RTI Act. There was no breach or leakage of Aadhaar data from UIDAI database or server, said a PIB release.

 

UIDAI reiterated that Aadhaar security systems are best and meet international standards and Aadhaar data is fully secure. There has been no breach or leakage of Aadhaar data at UIDAI. Also, the Aadhaar numbers which were made public on the government websites do not pose any real threat to the people as biometric information is never shared and is fully secure with highest encryption at UIDAI and mere display of demographic information cannot be misused without biometrics.

 

 UIDAI clarified that Aadhaar number is not a secret number. It is to be shared with authorised agencies when an Aadhaar holder wishes to avail a certain service or benefit of government welfare scheme/s or other services. But that does not mean that the proper use of Aadhaar number poses a security or financial threat. Also, mere availability of Aadhaar number will not be a security threat or will not lead to financial/other fraud, as for a successful authentication fingerprint or iris of individual is also required. Further all authentications happen in presence of personnel of respective service provider which further add to the security of the system.