Supreme Court holds that Aadhar data cannot be shared with government agencies

The Supreme Court, in an ad-interim order in Unique Identification Auth. of India and Anr. v. Central Bureau of Investigation, Special Leave to Appeal (Crl) No(s).2524/2014, ruled that the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) cannot share anyone’s biometric information linked to Aadhaar without the individual’s written consent. The Court also stated that Aadhaar cannot be mandatory for accessing any government service. This decision required all government authorities that had made Aadhaar mandatory to revise their circulars to reflect this new directive.

This order came as a result of a Special Leave Petition filed against a Bombay High Court decision that allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to access Aadhaar data for investigating a rape case. The CBI had requested UIDAI to match fingerprints found at the crime scene with those in its Aadhaar database to identify the suspect. UIDAI refused, citing privacy concerns and the lack of statutory backing for such a request.

Order of SC:Aadhar Order of 24 March 2014

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