Categories: privacy Uncategorized

A mixed bag: Mozilla reacts to the Indian Supreme Court’s landmark verdict on Aadhaar

By holding Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act to be unconstitutional, the Supreme Court of India has recognized the privacy risks created by the indiscriminate use of Aadhaar for private services. While this is welcome, by allowing the State wide powers to make Aadhaar mandatory for welfare subsidies and PAN, this judgment falls short of guaranteeing Indians meaningful choice on whether and how to use Aadhaar. This is especially worrisome given that India still lacks a data protection law to regulate government or private use of personal data. Now, more than ever, we need legal protections that will hold the government to account.