Don’t reveal Aadhaar number, says UIDAI after RS Sharma’s Twitter challenge

UIDAI, the organisation that maintains Aadhaar database, advised people not to reveal “personally sensitive information”, commenting after TRAI chief RS Sharma put out his 12-digit identity number on Twitter as a security challenge.

The organisation that maintains the Aadhaar database has advised people not to reveal “personally sensitive information”, commenting after the chief of country’s telecom regulator put out his 12-digit identity number on Twitter as a security challenge.

Nine tweets from UIDAI’s official account warned that revealing “personally sensitive information” or making misuse of such information was against the law. (AFP)

“People are advised to refrain from publicly putting their Aadhaar numbers on internet and social media and posing challenges to others,” said the UIDAI on Twitter on Wednesday night.

“This advisory has come with reference to some news items appearing on social media reporting few people publicly posting their Aadhaar numbers on internet and social media and posing challenges to others,” said UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India).

The stament comes after Ram Sewak Sharma, chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), gave out his Aadhaar number and challenged people to show how the information could be misused against him.

UIDAI didn’t name Sewak, a former UIDA chief, but it appears to reject his statement on Twitter that “no harm” can be done to him because people knew his Aadhaar number.

Elliot Alderson, who describes himself as a French security researcher, claimed he dug up Sharma’s phone number, date of birth (DOB), and address. Ethical hackers also claimed to have deposited Re 1 in Sharma’s bank account.