the goan I network
PANAJI
An affidavit by Goa-based IT security expert Samir Kelekar, one of the crucial bits of evidence in the case against Aadhaar, was read out before the bench hearing the “make-or-break” case against the all-important document.
Kelekar, who has been a consistent advocate against Aadhaar, while speaking to The Goan said that it is the extent of surveillance possible under the Aadhaar system that has driven him to file the affidavit.
“The point is Aadhaar is ideal for surveillance. The IP address and location of a device can go right through without any obfuscation to the very end of the signal. The example we have used is that, using the help of one Colonel Mathew, that since Aadhaar is used for salary accounts, based on the salary withdrawals an enemy country can get to know exactly how many soldiers the army has in each camp. This is sensitive information,” Kelekar told The Goan.
“I can categorically state that it is quite easy to know the location and type of transaction every time such authentication takes place using a scanner for fingerprints or iris and the records of these in the UID / Aadhaar database,” Kelekar has said.
“As someone with fairly extensive experience of cyber security, I can categorically state that this project is highly imprudent, as it throws open the clear possibility of compromising basic privacy by facilitating real-time and non-real-time surveillance of UID holders by the UID authority and other actors that may gain access to the authentication records held with the said authority or authentication data traffic as the case may be,” he has said.
Kelekar has said that he is optimistic about the impact of his affidavit especially since, once it was read out, it prompted questions from the bench and “sent the government into the defensive”.
“It is the one document that makes the case of Aadhaar as a surveillance foolproof,” Kelekar said referring to his affidavit. “It is a surveillance system and ignore it at your own peril,” he added.
Kelekar’s affidavit is one among several in one case among the 30-odd cases that have been filed against Aadhaar and are currently being heard before the
Supreme Court.
