Don't arrest journalists, reform Aadhaar if you're concerned: Edward Snowden to Modi govt

Whistleblower Edward Snowden has come out in support of the journalist who has exposed the Aadhaar data breach.

"The journalists exposing the #Aadhaar breach deserve an award, not an investigation," Snowden tweeted.

He went a step further and advised the Modi government to reform Aadhaar policy itself which, he said, has compromised privacy of billions of people.


"If the government were truly concerned for justice, they would be reforming the policies that destroyed the privacy of a billion Indians. Want to arrest those responsible? They are called @UIDAI," Snowden added.


Recently the Tribune newspaper reported that an administrator login ID and password to gain access to the UID portal could be acquired for as little as Rs 500.

Following that an FIR was lodged triggering widespread condemnation from all circles. This prompted the government to clarify that the FIR was not against the journalist and that it was lodged against unknown persons and an investigation is on. Meanwhile UIDAI has suspended access of many officials to Aadhaar data after the loophole came to light.

This is however not the first time that Snowden has come out against Aadhaar that is being pursued by the Modi government as a major policy initiative. Under Aadhaar biometric data of citizens are being collected. It has now been made mandatory to receive subsidy and access many services.

On January 5, Snowden had hinted that the Aadhaar database conceived and introduced by the Indian government can also be misused and abused.

Meanwhile, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad yesterday had said that the administration was "fully committed to freedom of press" and that an FIR filed is "against unknown".

"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," Prasad tweeted.