Data protection panel to submit its report in March, govt tells SC

A Supreme Court bench is hearing a clutch of petitions challenging Aadhaar, saying the 12-digit unique identity number violated the right to privacy.

The panel set up to put in place a data protection regime in the country would submit its report by March, the government told Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Appearing for a petitioner, an advocate said there were worries about the security of information collected by UIDAI, the agency authorised to collect biometrics and issue Aadhaar. (AFP File Photo)

The committee headed by retired SC judge justice BN Srikrishna would identify data protection issues and recommend solutions, attorney general KK Venugopal told a five-judge Constitution bench led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra. The bench is hearing a clutch of petitions challenging Aadhaar, saying the 12-digit unique identity number violated the right to privacy.

Appearing for a petitioner, senior advocate Shyam Divan said there were worries about the security of information collected by UIDAI, the agency authorised to collect biometrics and issue Aadhaar. Several private agencies were working with UIDAI and the data could be compromised. “Which is why we persuaded the AG to put it to the government to come up with a law,” justice DY Chandrachud said.“And it (report) will come out in March,” Venugopal said.

On the third day of his arguments, Divan said petitioners’ concern was that the data was not government’s “propriety right” and the technology used to store it was controlled by foreign entities. The hearing will continue on Wednesday.