Now CBDT raises concern over Aadhar data leakage

Following growing concerns over the security of sensitive data that are collected and linked with Aadhar, the Central Board of Direct Taxes(CBDT) issued a memorandum to its officials to refrain from publishing it in public domain.

Information of a large number of people, such as Aadhar number and demographic details have been found published online recently, and in many cases it has been on government websites.

Now with the government making the linking of Aadhar number with Pan cards and for filling tax returns mandatory, the CBDT has asked tax officials to make sure that sensitive information such as bank and Aadhaar details of the taxpayers is not put out in the public domain by them.

Under the new regulations for such a linking all salaried employees will have to provide Aadhaar or enrolment number in I-T returns by July 31 for income during the previous financial year.

The memo points to the illegality of such disclosure under the Aadhaar Act and the Information Technology Act. Officials have also been asked to file compliance reports. The memo also adds, "Any such content already published and still appearing publicly must be discontinued with immediate effect."

In addition to a host of petitions challenging the constitutionality of Aadhaar cards, which have been filed in the Supreme Court, hearing on the mandatory usage of Aadhaar for IT returns through pan card linking is also ongoing, where petitioners have pointed to the high number of cases where Aadhaar data has been published online.

But the government has defended the linking as a step that will enable it to root out fake pan cards from the system, in turn helping the government to tackle the menace of black money in the country.

OneIndia News