FIR against Aadhaar breach reporter, daily raises storm

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has registered an FIR against The Tribune and its reporter Rachna Khaira after her report in the English daily claimed a breach in the Aadhaar data. The January 3 report had claimed that for Rs 500 and 10 minutes, the newspaper could get access through an “agent” to every details of any individual submitted to the UIDAI, including name, address, postal code, photo, phone number, and email.

As the Delhi Police Crime Branch confirmed filing of the FIR, the Editors Guild of India on Sunday issued a Press release condemning the FIR filed by UIDAI against the journalist, calling it “unfair, unjustified and a direct attack on the freedom of the press.”

“Deeply concerned” over reports that the Deputy Director of the UIDAI registered an FIR against The Tribune and its reporter, the guild said, “The guild condemns UIDAI’s action…it is clearly meant to browbeat a journalist whose investigation in the matter was of great public interest. Instead of penalising the reporter, UIDAI should have ordered a thorough internal investigation into the alleged breach and made its findings public.”

The Press release also noted that the journalist was booked under the Indian Penal Code Sections 419 (punishment for cheating under impersonation), 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery), 471 (using a forged document), sections of the Information Technology Act, and the Aadhaar Act. The guild also demanded the withdrawal of the FIR and urged the Union Ministry concerned to intervene in the matter.

Under fire for filing the FIR, the UIDAI on Sunday said it respects free speech, including freedom of the press, and its police complaint should not be viewed as “shooting the messenger”.

However, justifying the FIR, the UIDAI said criminal proceedings have been initiated as it was an act of unauthorised access.

The UIDAI tweeted, “In the 3 January report, Khaira claimed that access to any Aadhaar holder’s details could be gained through a mere payment of Rs 500 via an anonymous service on WhatsApp. As per the report, the payment allowed the person to be designated as an “agent’, which in turn granted him/her access to the grievance redressal system.”

UIDAI also denied breach or leak of the Aadhaar data. “The Aadhaar data, including biometric information, is fully safe and secure,” the authority said in a statement, calling the report in The Tribune “a case of misreporting”. The authority said it had given search facility for the purpose of grievance redressal to designated personnel and state government officials to help residents only by entering their 12-digit Aadhaar numbers.

The grievance redressal search facility, the statement said, “Gives only limited access to the name and other details and has no access to biometric details.” It said the authority maintains complete log and traceability of its search facility and any misuse iss traceable.