Aadhaar Data Theft: Incidents of Breach Exposed Data of 1 Billion Cardholders, Says Gemalto Report
From January to June this year, 945 data breaches were reported, which led to the privacy of nearly 4.5 billion people breached. 37 per cent of the privacy intrusion victims are Indian residents, the report states.
New Delhi, October 15: Data of nearly 1 billion people were unethically accessed in Aadhaar breach incidents, said a report issued by Netherlands-based global privacy watchdog Gemalto. The study was published based on the data hack instances reported in first six months of 2018.
From January to June this year, 945 data breaches were reported, which led to the privacy of nearly 4.5 billion people breached. 37 per cent of the privacy intrusion victims are Indian residents, the report states. Aadhaar Declared Constitutionally Valid by Supreme Court, But It's Not Mandatory to Link it With Bank Accounts, Mobile Numbers.
In terms of cyber attack by hackers, the United States of America tops the chart with 72 percent cases registered in the nation. Data-theft through malicious softwares/apps is the most-used form of method to intrude privacy, followed by identity-thefts.
"Obviously, this year social media has been the top industry and threat vector for the compromise of personal data, a trend we can expect to continue with more and more sectors leveraging these platforms to reach key audiences, especially political teams gearing up for major elections," said Jason Hart, VC and chief technology officer for data protection at Gemalto.
Sector-wise, the most affected is healthcare, which accounts for 26 per cent of the reported data breaches.
The report comes in the backdrop of India's apex court brushing aside the legal challenges before the Aadhaar project. While holding privacy to be a fundamental right, the Supreme Court said the right would not be breached if the government uses Aadhaar for distribution of sops and subsidies. However, private sector has been barred from using the biometric identification number for KYC purposes.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 15, 2018 07:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).