New Delhi: After the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)’s helpline number entered the contact list of users through an update available on the Android platform, the government agency in charge of the Aadhaar database of over a billion Indians stepped in to defend the unique ID project and called it an attempt “to create unwarranted confusion in the public.”
The toll free number 1800-300-1947 in the contact list of Android phones is an “outdated and invalid number,” said UIDAI in a statement on Friday.
UIDAI has not asked or advised anyone, including any telecom service providers or mobile manufacturers or Android, to include 18003001947 or 1947 in the default list of public service numbers, the authority said.
“UIDAI’s valid toll free number is 1947, which is functional for more than the last two years,” it added.
On Thursday, French security expert Elliot Alderson took to Twitter to ask, “Do you have @UIDAI in your contact list by default?”
The news stormed social media and people checked their phones to find UIDAI’s helpline number pre-saved on their device without their knowledge. Based on a series of tweets that followed, it was established that the number entered users’ phones through an update on the Android platform.
“This doesn’t seem to be a malware or hacking-related instance,” said Amber Sinha, lawyer and senior programme manager at the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), a Bengaluru-based think tank.
“There are some pre-saved numbers which come with the operating system and its update. If UIDAI claims that it did not ask telecom service providers or mobile manufacturers or Android to include the number, then only Google or the operating system developers can provide clarity on this,” he said.
This is not the first time that privacy warriors have launched a crusade against the UIDAI and challenged the security framework put in place by it.
“We are aware of this and are looking into it,” said Google in response to queries from Mint.
Last week, Twitter users publicly shared personal details, including bank accounts, email IDs, PAN and the frequent flyer number of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman R.S. Sharma, after he posted his 12-digit Aadhaar number and dared people to harm him. Sharma, himself a former chairman of UIDAI, had revealed his Aadhaar number on Twitter, prompting many of his followers to dig up information about him.
After which, UIDAI on Tuesday advised people to refrain from revealing their Aadhaar numbers on public platforms, including social media.
The draft Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018, submitted to the government on Friday by an expert panel headed by former Supreme Court judge B.N. Srikrishna categorizes the Aadhaar number as sensitive personal information.
There are more than 1.21 billion Aadhaar numbers in the country.