Is there a risk to privacy while using Aadhaar everywhere? Infosys' Nandan Nilekani has the answer
Nandan Nilenkani emphasised that there is no central storage hub for all the data related to the places and transactions where one discloses their Aadhaar number.
- Apr 27, 2023,
- Updated May 9, 2023 8:45 PM IST
Nandan Nilekani, the co-founder of Infosys and the former Chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), government body that was responsible for the implementation of Aadhaar in India, addressed the growing concerns around privacy when using Aadhaar while speaking at Business Today’s Mindrush event on Wednesday.
Nilekani emphasised that there is no central storage hub for all the data related to the places and transactions where one discloses their Aadhaar number.
"If you're opening an account in a bank, the data is in the bank and the bank is under privacy regulations under the RBI. If you use it for a health application, it's in the health system, so it's all distributed. It's not like stored in one central place, that's when the risk is," Nilekani explained.
He also pointed out that Aadhaar does not collect any data on how it's used, adding, "If you use it to open a bank account, the other system does not know what you did with it, and we call that as optimal ignorance. We don't want the system to know more than it should know, and so all these design principles have made it pretty secure from a privacy point of view."
However, Nilekani acknowledged that privacy and cybersecurity are still concerns, but maintained that they are "par for the course" in driving digital transformation at scale.
It is worth noting that the Aadhaar system has faced criticism and legal challenges regarding privacy violations from time to time, but Nilekani's remarks highlight the system's design principles and distributed approach to data storage as measures to address these concerns.
The former Chairman of UIDAI also noted that although privacy is important, the implementation of systems like Aadhaar are pivotal in driving digital transformation at scale.
“If you want to drive digital transformation at scale, this is the only way you can do it," he added.
Also Read: TCS, Infosys, Wipro: Are huge bench sizes dragging down Indian IT majors? - BusinessToday
Also Read: TCS, Infosys, HCLTech: Hirings drop up to 78% in FY23 at major IT companies - BusinessToday
Nandan Nilekani, the co-founder of Infosys and the former Chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), government body that was responsible for the implementation of Aadhaar in India, addressed the growing concerns around privacy when using Aadhaar while speaking at Business Today’s Mindrush event on Wednesday.
Nilekani emphasised that there is no central storage hub for all the data related to the places and transactions where one discloses their Aadhaar number.
"If you're opening an account in a bank, the data is in the bank and the bank is under privacy regulations under the RBI. If you use it for a health application, it's in the health system, so it's all distributed. It's not like stored in one central place, that's when the risk is," Nilekani explained.
He also pointed out that Aadhaar does not collect any data on how it's used, adding, "If you use it to open a bank account, the other system does not know what you did with it, and we call that as optimal ignorance. We don't want the system to know more than it should know, and so all these design principles have made it pretty secure from a privacy point of view."
However, Nilekani acknowledged that privacy and cybersecurity are still concerns, but maintained that they are "par for the course" in driving digital transformation at scale.
It is worth noting that the Aadhaar system has faced criticism and legal challenges regarding privacy violations from time to time, but Nilekani's remarks highlight the system's design principles and distributed approach to data storage as measures to address these concerns.
The former Chairman of UIDAI also noted that although privacy is important, the implementation of systems like Aadhaar are pivotal in driving digital transformation at scale.
“If you want to drive digital transformation at scale, this is the only way you can do it," he added.
Also Read: TCS, Infosys, Wipro: Are huge bench sizes dragging down Indian IT majors? - BusinessToday
Also Read: TCS, Infosys, HCLTech: Hirings drop up to 78% in FY23 at major IT companies - BusinessToday