Aadhaar
In picture: The fingerprints of an individual are being recorded for Aadhaar enrolment. [Representational image]Wikimedia Commons

The much-discussed Aadhaar details and privacy concerns around it have made major headlines for the most of 2017. While these concerns were just coffee table discussions before, a report in August claimed that several foreign firms were given complete access to Aadhaar cardholders' personal details like name, date of birth and postal addresses.

These firms reportedly even had access to the citizens' fingerprints and iris scans.

The government then made it mandatory for citizens to link their 12-digit unique identification numbers to their bank accounts, social service schemes and mobile numbers, giving rise to debates on if they were really necessary. While the debate goes on and the deadline to link these numbers has been set for March 31, 2018, it looks like UIDAI has had enough when it comes to the safety debate.

Quelling fears, the Twitter handle of UIDAI, on Wednesday, January 17, cleared the air and answered several questions on the need and security of the 12-digit Aadhaar number.

"Rest assured, UIDAI does not have your information about family, caste, religion, education, bank accounts, shares, mutual funds, financial and property details, health records etc and will never have these information in its database," UIDAI posted.

It then went on to answer several questions such as the safety of biometric details and how linking Aadhaar numbers with bank accounts and mobile numbers were absolutely secure.

"Aadhaar database has never been breached during the last 7 years of its existence. Data of all Aadhaar holders is safe and secure. Stories around Aadhaar data breach are mostly cases of mis-reporting. UIDAI uses advanced security technologies to keep your data safe and secure and keeps upgrading them to meet emerging security threats and challenges," another post read.

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