Aadhaar authentication for bank accounts and SIM cards to be made optional

Both houses of Parliament were adjourned for the day on the opening day of Winter Session and a cabinet note was moved during the session to make amendments to the Aadhaar Act-2016.You will no longer have to make a disclosure of your Aadhaar details for opening bank accounts or while getting a SIM card.According to a report published by NDTV, the government has decided that providing Aadhaar details will be optional for people when they are opening a bank account or getting a mobile connection.[caption id="attachment_5714411" align="alignnone" width="1280"]

Aadhaar logo[/caption]We already know that in September this year, a five-judge bench ruling on the validity of the Aadhaar struck down Section 57 of Aadhaar Act, which permits private entities to avail of Aadhaar data. The ruling was against the use of an Aadhaar number for opening bank accounts, mobile connections and school admissions, calling access to the national identity database by private companies trying to authenticate identities “unconstitutional." Head here to read the judgement.If the amendments are made, data will be allowed to be demanded for authentication by any entity which is under the high court level and the UIDAI will only be allowed ask for minimum personal data.The 11 December cabinet note moved during a winter session argues otherwise.A very large section of India now has Aadhaar as their primary document for identity that they use for opening bank accounts or obtaining SIM cards, argues the cabinet note by the Department of Electronics and Information technology. It goes on to say that, removing it out of the system completely would cause a considerable amount of disruption.