UIDAI says posting Aadhaar number not legal: RS Sharma still stands by challenge

Four days after TRAI Chairman RS Sharma took Aadhaar challenge on Twitter and shared his 12-digit unique number, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in an advisory has asked people to refrain from publicly putting their Aadhaar numbers on the internet and social media.

Revealing Aadhaar number on such platforms is uncalled for and not in accordance with law, said UIDAI in series of tweets.

Doing Aadhaar authentication through somebody else’s Aadhaar number or using someone else’s Aadhaar number for any purpose may amount to impersonation and thereby a criminal offence under the Aadhaar Act and IPC, it added.

#PressStatement
People are advised to refrain from publicly putting their Aadhaar numbers on internet and social media and posing challenges to others. 1/n

— Aadhaar (@UIDAI) July 31, 2018

This advisory has come with reference to some news items appearing on social media reporting few people publicly posting their Aadhaar numbers on internet and social media and posing challenges to others.  2/n

— Aadhaar (@UIDAI) July 31, 2018

Last Saturday, RS Sharma took Aadhaar challenge on Twitter after a micro-blogging site user questioned his trust on the Aadhaar security system.

Following the tweet, TRAI's chairman personal details such as mobile number, e-mail ID, residential address, were put out in the public domain by twitter users. Hackers accessed his bank account details and reportedly deposited Rs 1 to him via the Aadhaar-enabled payment service using apps such as BHIM and Paytm.

However, Sharma denied these claims

UIDAI also said that the details shared of Sharma were not obtained from Aadhaar database but already available in the public domain. Soon after the incident, many users like RS Sharma started sharing their Aadhaar number.

Meanwhile, RS Sharma still stands by his challenge that Aadhaar could not be harmed. "Aadhaar is designed in such a way that it cannot cause harm to the holder, but only empowers him or her", Sharma wrote in his latest post that appeared on The Indian Express.

"My purpose in engaging in debate is to prove by my own example that Aadhaar number disclosure cannot cause any harm," he said adding replicating such challenge by people now does not hold any point.