<p>After a police complaint against a journalist of the Tribune for an expose on the breach of privacy of Aadhaar details, the government today clarified that it is committed to the freedom of the press.<br />
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Law and Information and Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the First Information Report has been filed against &quot;unknown&quot; entities.</p>

<p>Ravi Shankar Prasad wrote on Twitter that he had &quot;suggested to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)&nbsp;to request Tribune and its journalist to give all assistance to the police in investigating the real offenders.&quot;&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Govt. is fully committed to freedom of Press as well as to maintaining security &amp; sanctity of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Aadhaar?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Aadhaar</a> for India&#39;s development. FIR is against unknown. I&#39;ve suggested <a href="https://twitter.com/UIDAI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UIDAI</a> to request Tribune &amp; it&#39;s journalist to give all assistance to police in investigating real offenders.</p>
&mdash; Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) <a href="https://twitter.com/rsprasad/status/950275919855304705?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p>The UIDAI runs the world&#39;s largest biometric identity card scheme called &quot;Aadhaar&quot;,</p>

<p>The UIDAI&nbsp;started investigating a report last week by The Tribune newspaper which said access to the identity database of more than 1 billion citizens was being sold for just 500 rupees, or $8, on social media.</p>

<p>The Delhi Police had registered the FIR on UIDAI complaint over a newspaper report on alleged data breach of Aadhaar details, naming the reporter behind the story, even as the daily said it will defend its freedom to undertake investigative journalism.</p>

<p>Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Deputy Director B M Patnaik told the police that an input was received from The Tribune that it has purchased a service being offered by anonymous sellers over WhatsApp that provided unrestricted access to details of any of the Aadhaar numbers created in India, the police had said on Sunday.</p>

<p>On January 5, a complaint was received from Patnaik and the FIR was registered the same day, the police said.</p>

<p>The Editors Guild Of India scalled for an &quot;impartial&quot; investigation into the matter and asked the government to intervene in the withdrawal of the case.</p>

<p>The guild had criticised the lodging of the FIR and said it was &quot;deeply concerned&quot; over reports that the UIDAI deputy director had registered a complaint in which the reporter of The Tribune, Rachna Khaira, has been named.</p>


Ravi Shankar Prasad wrote on Twitter that he had 'suggested to the Unique Identification Authority of India to request Tribune and its journalist to give all assistance to the police in investigating the real offenders'

After a police complaint against a journalist of the Tribune for an expose on the breach of privacy of Aadhaar details, the government today clarified that it is committed to the freedom of the press. Law and Information and Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the First Information Report has been filed against "unknown" entities. Ravi Shankar Prasad wrote on Twitter that he had "suggested to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to request Tribune and its journalist to give all assistance to the police in investigating the real offenders." Govt. is fully committed to freedom of Press as well as to maintaining security & sanctity of #Aadhaar for India's development. FIR is against unknown. I've suggested @UIDAI to request Tribune & it's journalist to give all assistance to police in investigating real offenders. — Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) January 8, 2018 × The UIDAI runs the world's largest biometric identity card scheme called "Aadhaar", The UIDAI started investigating a report last week by The Tribune newspaper which said access to the identity database of more than 1 billion citizens was being sold for just 500 rupees, or $8, on social media. The Delhi Police had registered the FIR on UIDAI complaint over a newspaper report on alleged data breach of Aadhaar details, naming the reporter behind the story, even as the daily said it will defend its freedom to undertake investigative journalism. Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Deputy Director B M Patnaik told the police that an input was received from The Tribune that it has purchased a service being offered by anonymous sellers over WhatsApp that provided unrestricted access to details of any of the Aadhaar numbers created in India, the police had said on Sunday. On January 5, a complaint was received from Patnaik and the FIR was registered the same day, the police said. The Editors Guild Of India scalled for an "impartial" investigation into the matter and asked the government to intervene in the withdrawal of the case. The guild had criticised the lodging of the FIR and said it was "deeply concerned" over reports that the UIDAI deputy director had registered a complaint in which the reporter of The Tribune, Rachna Khaira, has been named.

After FIR against journalist, government says committed to freedom of press

<p>The first information report (FIR) has been filed by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) against a reporter of The Tribune.</p>

<p>The <a href="http://UIDAI files FIR for unauthorised access to Aadhaar data">FIR was filed </a>after the reporter, Rachna Khaira, in an&nbsp;article exposed how&nbsp;<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/whatsapp-group-sold-aadhaar-details-for-rs-500-uidai-denies-report-28548">Aadhaar details were being sold&nbsp;for a particular amount as minimum as 500 rupees on a Whatsapp group.</a></p>

<p>The FIR also mentioned people, whom the reporter contacted for her story.</p>

<p>The reporter has been booked under Section 419 (Punishment for cheating by impersonation), 420(Cheating), 468 (forgery) and 471 (Using forged document) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 66 of the Information Technology (IT) act and Section 36/37 of the Aadhaar act.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Tribune&#39;s report suggesting the data breach at <a href="https://twitter.com/UIDAI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UIDAI</a> is fake news! <a href="https://t.co/qtOzNIq7zH">pic.twitter.com/qtOzNIq7zH</a></p>
&mdash; BJP (@BJP4India) <a href="https://twitter.com/BJP4India/status/948866411979456512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p>UIDAI has claimed that the report that was published earlier this week by the Tribune is a false and called it &quot;misreporting&quot;.</p>

<p>The report was about data associated with Aadhaar number was being sold on a Whatsapp for 500 rupees.</p>

<p>UIDAI has constantly assuring Aadhar card holders that its data is safe but several times in past there have been many reports of Aadhaar data leak.</p>

<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


The FIR was filed after a report written by Rachna Khaira an article on how Aadhaar details are being sold for a particular amount as minimum as 500 rupees on a Whatsapp group

The first information report (FIR) has been filed by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) against a reporter of The Tribune. The FIR was filed after the reporter, Rachna Khaira, in an article exposed how Aadhaar details were being sold for a particular amount as minimum as 500 rupees on a Whatsapp group. The FIR also mentioned people, whom the reporter contacted for her story. The reporter has been booked under Section 419 (Punishment for cheating by impersonation), 420(Cheating), 468 (forgery) and 471 (Using forged document) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 66 of the Information Technology (IT) act and Section 36/37 of the Aadhaar act. Tribune's report suggesting the data breach at @UIDAI is fake news! pic.twitter.com/qtOzNIq7zH — BJP (@BJP4India) January 4, 2018 × UIDAI has claimed that the report that was published earlier this week by the Tribune is a false and called it "misreporting". The report was about data associated with Aadhaar number was being sold on a Whatsapp for 500 rupees. UIDAI has constantly assuring Aadhar card holders that its data is safe but several times in past there have been many reports of Aadhaar data leak.

FIR against reporter of a leading daily over Aadhaar data breach story

<p>An investigative media report has revealed that an anonymous Whatsapp group was selling details of<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/pakistan-national-caught-with-indian-aadhaar-card-in-rajasthan-28473" target="_blank"> Aadhaar data </a>available with UIDAI.</p>

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<p>The WhatsApp group was accessed by the reporter of the media.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The reporter joined the WhatsApp group and paid Rs 500 via Paytm. In return for the meager sum, the WhatsApp group provided him with an ID, Password as an access to details of any Aadhaar number.&nbsp;The reporter could enter any Aadhaar number and get access to details relating to name, address, phone number, photo, email.</p>

<p>Also with an additional amount of Rs 300, the WhatsApp group offered to give them a software for printing Aadhaar details.</p>

<p>Sanjay Jindal, The Additional Director- General, UIDAI regional center, Chandigarh has termed the incident as a &quot;major national security breach&quot;.&nbsp;</p>

<p>He also said later that this report can only be confirmed by technical investigation.</p>

<p>The major data breach was continuing for the past six months, the media reported. It also said that there may be One lakh illegal users of Aadhaar Card.</p>

<p>A report also said that the UIDAI on its website recently introduced an option for Aadhaar users to find if there was any misuse of their details.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The &quot;major national security breach&quot; has come two months after Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) assured in November that details of Aadhaar were safe from breaches.&nbsp;</p>

<p>UIDAI has reportedly denied the claims calling it &quot;misreporting&quot;. It once again assured that there was no Aadhaar data breach and the data is completely safe and secure.&nbsp;</p>


The major data breach was continuing for the past six months, the media reported. It also said that there may be One lakh, illegal users of Aadhaar Card

An investigative media report has revealed that an anonymous Whatsapp group was selling details of Aadhaar data available with UIDAI. × The WhatsApp group was accessed by the reporter of the media. The reporter joined the WhatsApp group and paid Rs 500 via Paytm. In return for the meager sum, the WhatsApp group provided him with an ID, Password as an access to details of any Aadhaar number. The reporter could enter any Aadhaar number and get access to details relating to name, address, phone number, photo, email. Also with an additional amount of Rs 300, the WhatsApp group offered to give them a software for printing Aadhaar details. Sanjay Jindal, The Additional Director- General, UIDAI regional center, Chandigarh has termed the incident as a "major national security breach". He also said later that this report can only be confirmed by technical investigation. The major data breach was continuing for the past six months, the media reported. It also said that there may be One lakh illegal users of Aadhaar Card. A report also said that the UIDAI on its website recently introduced an option for Aadhaar users to find if there was any misuse of their details. The "major national security breach" has come two months after Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) assured in November that details of Aadhaar were safe from breaches. UIDAI has reportedly denied the claims calling it "misreporting". It once again assured that there was no Aadhaar data breach and the data is completely safe and secure.

WhatsApp group sold Aadhaar details for Rs 500, UIDAI denies report