Here's what Edward Snowden had to say about India’s Aadhaar programme

Edward Snowden, the US whistleblower who leaked classified information from the NSA in 2013, has criticised the Aadhaar programme of India calling it ‘government abuse’, in a tweet earlier today. Quoting the link of Buzzfeed’s story about the breach of the Aadhaar database of the Indian government, with information of more than 1.2 billion citizens, Snowden tweeted:

It is the natural tendency of government to desire perfect records of private lives. History shows that no matter the laws, the result is abuse. https://t.co/7HSQSZ4T3f

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) January 4, 2018

The Tribune, an Indian English daily, Thursday reported unauthorised agents were accessing Aadhaar details of citizens through the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) database. The report alleged it takes Rs 500 and 10 minutes to access anyone’s biometric and personal details.

In a statement soon after, UIDAI rubbished the story and called it a case of misreporting. It said the biometric data of all the Aadhaar card holders was safe, and there had been no breach. UIDAI clarified it maintains complete log and traceability of the facility and any misuse can be traced and appropriate action taken.