The Delhi High Court has sought responses from UIDAI, RBI, and Google on a petition which argues that Google Pay is illegally collecting and storing the Aadhaar and bank details of its users, LiveLaw reported. Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh heard the plea filed by Abhijit Mishra on September 15, according to LiveLaw. Mishra's petition, seen by MediaNama, requested the court to order UIDAI to protect the Aadhaar and banking details of citizens from being unlawfully stored by Google Pay. The company, however, told MediaNama that Google Pay does not collect Aadhaar data. The safety of Aadhaar data of Indian citizens has been a matter of major concern ever since the unique ID was launched in 2016. The petition raises serious questions about the privacy protocols followed around the Aadhaar database, and responses from UIDAI, RBI, and Google might help bring some clarity on the issue. Google Pay's access to Aadhaar data unconstitutional: PIL Violation of Aadhaar Act, Right to Privacy: The petition highlights that Google Pay mentioned in its terms of service in 2019 that it can collect and share citizens' Aadhaar data. Mishra argued that Google's access to Aadhaar data violated the rights of Indian citizens: [...]such heinous, unpardonable and unconstitutional conduct of Respondents – 3 i.e. Google Pay of collecting, storing, and using of the citizens Aadhaar, banking personal data and any communications routed through its servers is in complete contravention of the Aadhaar Act 2016 and is a deemed compromise and violation of…
