Expanding Aadhaar to private entities is risky

In a landmark 4-1 verdict in 2018, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Aadhaar Act, 2016, but struck down section 57, which allowed the use of Aadhaar authentication and E-KYC by private companies to establish an identity for delivering services. Explaining its ruling, the top court said that the section struck at the heart of an individual’s privacy, a fundamental right as per the 2017 Puttaswamy judgment. In 2020, came another bizarre legislation -- the Aadhaar Authentication for Good Governance Rules, 2020, whose objectives postulated in Rule 3 read as: The central government may allow Aadhaar authentication by requesting entities in the interest of good governance, preventing leakage of public funds, promoting ease of living of residents and enabling better access to services for them, for the following purposes, namely:– usage of digital platforms to ensure good governance; prevention of dissipation of social welfare benefits; and enablement of innovation and the spread of knowledge. Then, last month, the ministry of electronics and information technology proposed rules to enable Aadhaar identification by private entities for “promoting ease of living for residents and enabling better access to services for them”.