An Indian government website, according to security expert Atul Nair, is leaking the Aadhaar numbers of India's farmers. It has the potential to affect millions of individuals.
As per a report by TechCrunch, he discovered that a section of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) website revealed farmers' Aadhaar numbers, which they must provide in order to obtain state benefits. PM-Kisan, as the agency is known, is an Indian government initiative aimed at delivering a basic financial income to every farmer in the country.
What is the risk of an Aadhaar data breach?
Nair warned that by writing a script, an attacker might simply obtain the farmers' information.
He gave a few samples of exposed farmers' information and their Aadhaar numbers, which TechCrunch confirmed as real by comparing the exposed data with each farmer's information using a tool on PM-Kisan's website.
It is worth noting that more than 110 million farmers have joined PM-Kisan since the initiative launched in 2019.
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Meanwhile, TechCrunch mentioned that the data leak is not a breach of Aadhaar's core database, which is administered by the UIDAI. It was reported that it is the latest security lapse to afflict the controversial national identity database, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has defended fiercely.
What Are Aadhaar Numbers?
Aadhaar is a 12-digit number that links a person's fingerprints and retina scan. To further elaborate, it is a number that each Indian citizen receives as part of the country's national identity database.
With over 1.33 billion people enrolled, or roughly the entire population of India, Aadhaar is the world's largest biometric identity system.
Despite New Delhi's promotion of Aadhaar as a "voluntary" identification system, critics have expressed concerns about how its use case has been widened and made mandatory across a variety of daily activities.
What Is the Purpose of Aadhaar Numbers?
After citizens submit their fingerprints and retinal scans to the central database, Aadhaar is used as proof of identity, and it is frequently required for accessing state government services like welfare assistance and voting. Aadhaar numbers are also used to verify identities when creating bank accounts, using other internet services and more.
However, TechCrunch noted that Aadhaar numbers are not absolutely confidential as they are treated similarly to Social Security or National Insurance numbers in the U.S.
Other Issues Surrounding Aadhaar Numbers
As we have reported last month, to prevent misuse, the UIDAI's regional office warned users that unlicensed private businesses such as hotels and theater halls are "not permitted to obtain or maintain copies of Aadhaar. Individuals, on the other hand, were adversely affected by the warning. Because this was the "first time they were hearing about such a possibility," they hinted that many establishments in India now have a copy of their Aadhaar.
As a result, India has removed this warning requesting users not to share photocopies of their national biometric ID after widespread criticism on social media.
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