Mammoth task to audit, dismantle Aadhaar data lying with private firms: Experts
New Delhi, Sep 26 : Terming the Supreme Court verdict on Aadhaar a breath of fresh air for Indian citizens, cyber law experts on Wednesday said a completely new regime has to be put in place to protect the Aadhaar data that is lying with private companies.
Stating that private entities or individuals cannot avail Aadhaar data to provide consumer services, the apex court struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act which allowed sharing of data with private entities.
It means that telecom companies, e-commerce firms and private banks cannot ask for biometric and other data from consumers to provide their services.
"The Aadhaar verdict is a huge sigh of relief for citizens. The humongous task now is to ensure that the data that is already with private companies is not misused or sold," Pavan Duggal, the nation's leading cyber law expert, told IANS.
"The data now needs to be dismantled but the onus is to make sure companies do not make copies of the data and use it to monetise their operations. The big question is which agency will audit this humongous task," added Duggal, also a leading Supreme Court lawyer.
The apex court also said that Aadhaar data can't be shared with security agencies in the name of upholding national security and individuals too can complain about theft of their Aadhaar data.
"Private companies played a big gamble of integrating Aaddhar data with their systems wherein they spent a lot of money. The whole exercise is now futile and the country now needs a fresh Aadhaar ecosystem," Duggal noted.
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), said Duggal, had already lodged more than 50 FIRs against private companies for Aadhaar data breach.
"Today's judgment as read out in court signals massive changes in the Aadhaar project and the Act. The legitimacy of its stated purposes is destroyed. Even the majority signals significant concern by reading down portions," tweeted New Delhi-based lawyer Apar Gupta.
Although experts are yet to read the verdict in fine print, they said the Supreme Court's directive to the Centre to bring a robust data protection law is the need of the hour.
"The Aadhaar data is saved in data centres outside the boundaries and law of our country. There is an urgent need for addressing newly emerging legal and cyber security challenges concerning Aadhaar ecosystem on an urgent basis," Duggal said.
The Supreme Court, in a landmark judgment last year, declared privacy a fundamental right. This set the government in motion to take steps to bring new data protection legislation for the country.
The Justice B.N. Srikrishna Committee submitted the Personal Data Protection Bill 2018 in July, suggesting amendments to the Aadhaar Act to provide for imposition of penalties on data fiduciaries and compensations to data principals for violations of the data protection law.
The 213-page report suggested amendments to the Aadhaar Act from a data protection perspective.
According to Duggal, "not just cosmetic changes, there is an urgent need for addressing newly emerging legal and cyber security challenges concerning Aadhaar ecosystem on an urgent basis".
Supratim Chakraborty, Associate Partner at law firm Khaitan & Co, said the verdict that private parties cannot have access to individuals' data was a double-edged thing.
"From a socialistic perspective and individualistic perspective, you need to have proper safeguards as to how your information is being used by a private party.
"However, from a business perspective, it could increase their expenses if they need to collect too much information one by one from an individual. It compels us to ponder whether there is a correct way to do business while protecting the privacy of users," Chakraborty told IANS.
Mishi Choudhury, a technology lawyer and civil liberties activist, said striking down of Section 57 that gave access to private companies is a key decision.
"This gives much-needed relief to the common public. The limitations about time of storage, on metadata analysis and state interference are important developments for privacy," Choudhury said.
In Europe, as part of the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that came into force from May 25, EU citizens at any point may object to an organisation's handling of their personal data.
The regulation specifically names "direct marketing and profiling" as personal data uses to which individuals may object.
According to Duggal, India should not cut-paste any other country's law and must strive for data localisation.
"There is a need for more comprehensive legal frameworks to protect and preserve data and privacy of individual Aadhaar account holders in specific and the Aadhaar ecosystem stakeholders in general," Duggal noted.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
