Moody’s Allegations on Aadhaar’s Reliability and Government’s Response
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has issued a robust defense of Aadhaar, asserting that it is the most secure digital ID globally, after Moody’s Investors Service raised questions about the platform’s data security and user privacy. UIDAI criticized Moody’s for making sweeping allegations against Aadhaar without providing any substantial evidence to support its claims. Over the past decade, Aadhaar has garnered the trust of more than one billion Indians, who have utilized it for over 100 billion verifications.
Challenging Moody’s Claims
The Union Ministry of Electronic and IT challenged the assertions made by Moody’s in its report, highlighting the absence of both primary and secondary data or research to substantiate the allegations. Moody’s report had expressed concerns about service denials within the Aadhaar system and raised questions about the reliability of biometric technologies, particularly for manual laborers.
Government’s Perspective on Secure Biometric Authentication and Global Recognition
In response to these concerns, the ministry clarified that payments to workers under schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) are made by directly crediting funds into their accounts, eliminating the need for biometric authentication.
The government emphasized that biometric authentication can be conducted through contactless methods, including face and iris recognition, in addition to mobile OTP options. It underscored that there have been no reported breaches in the Aadhaar database, a fact consistently disclosed in response to parliamentary inquiries.
Furthermore, the government highlighted that global institutions such as the IMF and World Bank have lauded the role of Aadhaar. The G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI), as reported by the World Bank, also acknowledged Aadhaar’s contribution to expanding access to transaction accounts.
Aadhaar, issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), is a distinctive identification card linked to an individual’s fingerprints, facial features, and eye scan. It remains a cornerstone of India’s digital identity landscape, serving as a secure and widely trusted means of identity verification.
