According to government sources, the Bengaluru office of the UIDAI had received some complaints that the Aadhar number along with details such as the address of the Aadhaar cardholders was being photoshopped and misused. To alert people about the same, the Bengaluru office “issued the circular without much thought about the possible pros and cons of the notification”, a senior government official said.
The circular, issued by the Bengaluru regional office of UIDAI on Friday, had caused much furore on social media platforms.
In the fresh notification, the IT ministry said the notification had been issued by the regional office “in the context of an attempt to misuse a photoshopped Aadhaar card.”
“The release advised the people not to share photocopy of their Aadhaar with any organization because it can be misused. Alternatively, a masked Aadhaar which displays only the last 4 digits of the Aadhaar number, can be used. However, in view of the possibility of the misinterpretation of the Press Release, the same stands withdrawn with immediate effect,” according to the notification.
The IT ministry also asked people to “exercise normal prudence” while sharing their Aadhaar card numbers for verification. It said the Aadhaar ecosystem had “adequate features for protecting and safeguarding the identity and privacy of the Aadhaar holder.”
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The advisory issued by the regional office went viral on social media platforms and alarmed citizens who routinely shared photocopies of their Aadhaar number for services ranging from buying SIM cards to banking.
Aadhaar is a common means of identification at places including airports, railway stations and hotels. Users expressed surprise at the advisory as they claimed that most organisations would not conduct verification services without a physical copy of the Aadhaar card.
Some users also shared screenshots of a 2018 conversation between a Twitter user and the then chairperson of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), RS Sharma.
Sharma had, to showcase the safety and privacy features of Aadhaar, put out his own Aadhaar number publicly on Twitter.
The UIDAI had, however, asked people not to share their Aadhaar numbers over the internet or on social media.
