The Unique Identification Authority of India, responsible for issuing Aadhaar, has claimed that the personal details of R S Sharma, Chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) have not been leaked through his Aadhaar number.
Sharma had divulged his 12 digit Aadhaar number on twitter challenging hackers to use this to get sensitive information about him or harm him with this knowledge.
Now UIDAI has jumped to the defense of Sharma saying that all the ‘leaked’ infomation is easily available on Google and that Aadhaar cannot be used to hack bank accounts and other sensitive information.
The move to go public with his Aadhaar number has led to an online -war like scenario with Sharma supporters claiming that Aadhaar number cannot be hacked while on the other hand, a section of so-called ethical hackers claiming to have deposited Re 1 in his account to prove their point.
The UIDAI added. “This is merely cheap publicity by these unscrupulous elements who try to attract attention by creating such fake news,” it alleged.
UIDAI said that basic information like birth date, etc, is available in the public domain and his address is given on the TRAI website.
“They clubbed all these inputs and claimed that they have managed to breach Aadhaar database and got his personal details, which is completely false,” the statement said.
Both the sides are claiming victory but the Government has reiterated that Aadhaar data is unhackable.