India’s new Bharatiya Janata Party government has come under pressure to scrap Aadhaar, the program which aims to enroll all of the country’s residents through biometrics.
The Left Front, an alliance of Indian left-wing parties which includes Communists, has alleged that the country’s biometric database, which is used to provide social services and reduce welfare fraud, has been utilized for foreign espionage.
In a scathing letter to incoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Communist Party of India argues that the United States has been using an information exchange agreement to obtain biometric data about Indian citizens. The letter asks the new government to order an inquiry into the alleged information sharing arrangement.
The letter alleges biometric data collected in India was given to the National Security Agency (NSA) in the U.S. and that there is “widespread apprehension” within India’s national security establishment about the security of data collected by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for the production of Aadhaar cards.
Aadhaar currently has combined enrollment of approximately 850 million people, with 630 million Aadhaar numbers now reportedly generated. The previous Congress Party government introduced the program in order to distribute 12-digit identity cards to provide better access to social programs.
The Left Front, an alliance of Indian left-wing parties which includes Communists, has alleged that the country’s biometric database, which is used to provide social services and reduce welfare fraud, has been utilized for foreign espionage.
In a scathing letter to incoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Communist Party of India argues that the United States has been using an information exchange agreement to obtain biometric data about Indian citizens. The letter asks the new government to order an inquiry into the alleged information sharing arrangement.
The letter alleges biometric data collected in India was given to the National Security Agency (NSA) in the U.S. and that there is “widespread apprehension” within India’s national security establishment about the security of data collected by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for the production of Aadhaar cards.
Aadhaar currently has combined enrollment of approximately 850 million people, with 630 million Aadhaar numbers now reportedly generated. The previous Congress Party government introduced the program in order to distribute 12-digit identity cards to provide better access to social programs.
