Govt to Soon Share Consent Form with Citizens on 'Prospective' Sharing of Aadhaar for Future Schemes

The government will soon be sending you a form through an e-mail, SMS or asking you to access the same online on a website, seeking your permission for the “prospective sharing” of your Aadhaar details for getting benefits in all “future” government schemes and for the “creation of an Aadhaar-seeded database”. This comes as the Unique Identification Authority of India has received requests from various government ministries and departments to provide “guidance” regarding the use of Aadhaar-related data for future schemes, says an order issued by the UIDAI. The form says the citizen gives their consent for sharing their Aadhaar number, demographic details and photograph, for verifying their identity for the purpose of determining their eligibility across government welfare programs, “which are in existence and for future programmes” run by the central and state governments. “I understand that the Government of India shall create an Aadhaar-seeded database containing my Aadhaar number, photograph and demographic information and government shall ensure requisite mechanisms have been put in place to ensure safety, security and privacy of such information in accordance with applicate laws, rules and regulations,” the form says.