Amidst new Aadhaar linkages with health and voter IDs, the Standing Committee on Information Technology has started looking into privacy and profiling concerns with the UIDAI, it is learnt. On November 16, the committee summoned UIDAI CEO Saurabh Garg and IT Secretary Ajay Sawhney to provide answers with relation to UIDAI's safety measures. The committee asked for details on the number of hackings the UIDAI database has seen, the steps the authority takes to secure the database, and how it addresses concerns of 360-degree surveillance with the authority's Aadhaar database being linked with multiple other IDs. Garg has been asked to return with written answers to the committee's questions although a date has not been given for it and the committee also plans to summon others on the matter but no such communication has been issued yet, it is understood. During the session, two reports - one on internet shutdowns and another on ethical standards in media coverage were also adopted. The reports are expected to be tabled during the winter session of Parliament, which begins on November 29. Aadhaar is increasingly being linked with several other government IDs like PAN, Ration cards, etc with a proposal to link it with Voter-IDs reportedly in the works as well. Privacy experts have repeatedly flagged such linking saying that it could lead to the creation of 360-degree surveillance machinery abetting voter profiling, frauds, and more. Developments related to Aadhaar linkages Aadhaar linkages have been taking place on multiple fronts, with various IDs:…
