'Its Impossible To track Citizens Via Aadhar' Supreme Court Told

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It is virtually impossible to use Aadhaar to track citizens, the agency that has issued the identification number to millions of Indians told the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

 The Unique Identification Authority of India, or UIDAI, said there were safeguards built into the law and its systems to ensure that the government could not use Aadhaar for surveillance even if a court were to permit them. 

"Nothing is private in the online era," the UIDAI told a nine-judge constitution bench that is considering whether privacy is a fundamental right of every citizen.

The UIDAI was first set up to issue Aadhaar numbers in 2009.

 But because parliament could not pass the law to give legal cover to the unique identification number, the agency had to collect personal information about residents under executive instructions. 

The top court had been hearing petitions that questioned collection of private information from citizens without any legal backing.

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