![Aadhaars being issued with the same biometric data to various residents: CAG Report Aadhaars being issued with the same biometric data to various residents: CAG Report](https://varindia.com/storage/news/uploads/2018/02/6251606dd543e.jpg)
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has called the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) expressing its concern relating to the issuance of Aadhaar cards.
Lending further credence to data privacy campaigners’ concerns about India’s unique identity programme, CAG cast doubt on the authenticity and uniqueness of Aadhaar cards.
UIDAI, the statutory authority founded in 2016 to give Aadhaar cards to all citizens of India had as of October 31, 2021 issued 131.68 crore Aadhaar numbers.
CAG examined the UIDAI’s functioning from 2014-15 to 2018-2019 in its first ever performance audit report, dated April 6, and identified a number of concerns with its de-duplication process, as well as how flaws in the biometric capture process led to hundreds of thousands of people paying a fee to update their biometrics. It further pointed out the authority’s “poor data management,” claiming that data from Aadhaar card users had not been connected with their Aadhaar numbers in some circumstances even after ten years.
It has also criticised the lack of a mechanism to analyse the causes that contribute to authentication problems, and stated that despite having one of the world’s largest biometric databases, UIDAI does not have a data archiving policy, which is regarded “a fundamental storage management best practise.”
“UIDAI supplied free authentication services to banks, mobile carriers, and other agencies until March 2019, contrary to the terms of their own Regulations, thereby robbing the government of income,” the CAG report stated.
The UIDAI also did not have proper arrangements with the postal service, as discovered by CAG, which resulted in a huge number of Aadhaar cards being returned to the government.
The national auditor’s principal findings are as follows -
· No guarantee that all Aadhaar holders in the country are ‘Residents,’ as defined under the Aadhaar Act
· In India, Aadhaar numbers are only granted to people who have lived in the country for at least 182 days in the 12 months preceding the date of application. This criterion was eased in September 2019 for non-resident Indians with a valid Indian passport.
· According to the CAG study, the UIDAI merely requires a “casual self-declaration” to establish this, and there is no procedure in place to check an applicant’s residential status.
It further stated that, in accordance with the terms of the Aadhaar Act, the UIDAI may establish a procedure and needed paperwork other than self-declaration in order to confirm and authenticate applicants’ residency status.
The UIDAI’s de-duplication method is intended to ensure that no one person obtains two Aadhaar numbers, and that a single person’s biometrics cannot be used to obtain Aadhaar numbers for multiple people. However, the CAG recorded instances of Aadhaars being issued to various individuals with the identical biometric data, showing weaknesses in the de-duplication process.
The CAG report, however, highlights the ineffectiveness of such a de-duplication process, stating, “It was discovered that UIDAI had to cancel over 4.75 lakh Aadhaars (November 2019) due to duplicates. There have been reports of Aadhaars being issued with the same biometric data to various residents, showing weaknesses in the de-duplication process, as well as Aadhaars being issued based on erroneous biometrics and documents.”
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