First protect Aadhaar data

The government has mandated the linking of PAN with Aadhaar by the extended August 31 deadline. Its determination to go ahead despite the Supreme Court expressing so many reservations about the government impinging on citizens’ right to privacy is disturbing. It may be reasonable to insist Aadhaar be the biometric identifying marker to get government subsidies and welfare benefits, what the government action on various issues on Aadhaar suggests is that it wants to railroad its way before a three-member bench can pass orders on how Aadhaar should operate. Such stubbornness in the face of a landmark verdict on privacy clearly points to an attempt to make all people compliant with the unique identification system, without considering whether such actions may breach the recommendations laid down by the nine-judge Constitution Bench.

The logic behind the government’s move — which might even mandate a person can’t die without taking an Aadhaar number — to link PAN is understandable as the system issuing those cards was so sham that the Centre itself invalidated several lakh bogus PAN cards. The Establishment’s anxiety to root out all problems created by its own inefficiencies and corruption may push it in this direction. The least it can do is to go easy on all “compulsory” registrations until more clarity is shed by the Supreme Court. UIDAI’s primary concern should be to safeguard its data more than overload the system with tasks like taking compliance near 100 per cent quickly. Fears of data leakage, including due to espionage, can’t be discounted. Will the government be able to assure 1.3 crore people that their privacy won’t be breached by intrusive collection of identity data?