Electronics and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday said that Aadhaar system of biometric identification is secure and is backed by law that is tough on misuse of data.
“You need to understand that if a banker is seeking authentication, Aadhaar system does not know for what purpose the bank is seeking authentication… Is it for opening bank account or something else. We only authenticate that the person is who is says he is,” the minister said while speaking at Hero Mind Mine summit here.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
He added that Aadhaar card does not contain information that can be used to profile the user.
“Aadhaar – some people are having problem with Aadhaar. Poor people are not having problems with Aadhaar. Aadhaar card contains my name, date of birth, gender and address. It does not contain my parentage, cast or community or education. My income or my medical history is not there… anything with which you can be profiled is not there. And system has my biometric and iris,” he said.
Stressing that the Aadhaar Act is “tough”, the minister said, “Even as the IT minister, if I disclose my fingerprint and iris to unauthorised purpose… I can also be prosecuted for 3 years and sentenced.”
ADVERTISEMENT