A seller posted a picture of a 6-year-old child’s active Aadhaar card on Amazon India in blatant breach of that person’s privacy in order to sell lamination pouches. The fact that Amazon India let the same be published on its website is shocking. The Aadhaar number, date of birth, father’s name, residence, and other personal information are all prominently shown on the Aadhaar card image. The Aadhaar number was verified as a valid Aadhaar card on the “myaadhaar.uidai.gov.in” website.
Recently, the UIDAI advised that “Aadhaar card should be freely used for proving identity and doing transactions, but should not be put on public platforms like Twitter, Facebook, etc.”In this instance, a third party gained access to the Aadhaar card image and placed it on the Amazon website by a seller going under the name of “MY OFFICE STATIONERY” in order to sell lamination pouches.
In the past, UIDAI had issued clear instructions that the personal information on the Aadhaar card should be obscured and had recommended websites and media outlets abstain from posting images of Aadhaar cards in stories and videos.
UIDAI recently advised people not to download an e-Aadhaar using a public computer at an internet café or kiosk. “However, if you do so, then it is highly recommended to delete all the downloaded copies of eAadhaar,” it said.
An Aadhar card has the personal information of a person including his name, address, DOB, and biometric information like fingerprints and iris scans. It is used to establish a person’s identity and provide him/her related benefits to stop fraud and forgery.