People question Aadhaar, but ready to strip before white men for visa: Union minister KJ Alphons

Union minister of state for tourism KJ Alphons on Sunday took a dig at activists questioning the validity of Aadhaar, saying people only have a problem when their own government asks for data or information.

“I filled up to 10 pages for US Visa form. We have absolutely no problem giving our fingerprints and getting body naked before the white man at all,” Alphons was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

“When your own government asks for your name and address there is a massive revolution saying it’s intrusion in privacy,” he said.

I filled up to 10 pages for US Visa form. We have absolutely no problem giving our fingerprints&getting body naked before the white man at all. When your own govt asks for your name&address there is a massive revolution saying it's intrusion in privacy: Union Minister KJ Alphons pic.twitter.com/PymtYRlvI1

— ANI (@ANI) March 25, 2018

Interacting with media in Trivandrum , Alphons said, “You think Prime Minister is going to give your data to a private company! Don’t believe such fake stories. Let me assure you that it has not been breached, it’s absolutely secure. We have given authorisation to government agencies to access Aadhaar information,” the minister said.

Earlier on Saturday, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) refuted a report about an alleged Aadhaar database breach and advised people not to be misled by such reports.

ZDNet, a technology news portal had cited a security researcher’s claim to state that a system of state-owned utility firm was allegedly leaking information on Aadhaar holders. The ZDNet report had claimed that “a data leak on a system run by a state-owned utility company can allow anyone to download private information on all Aadhaar holders, exposing their names, their unique 12-digit identity numbers, and information about services they are connected to, such as their bank details and other private information.”

Last week, UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey had made a powerpoint presentation in the Supreme Court to defend the government’s ambitious Aadhaar scheme. He had said that breaking Aadhaar encryption may take “more than the age of the universe for the fastest computer on earth.”