Justice K.S.Puttaswamy(Retd) vs Union Of India on 26 September, 2018
profiling enables the State to stifle dissent and influence political decision making. The architecture
of the project comprises a Central Identities Data Repository which stores and maintains
authentication transaction data. The authentication record comprises the time of authentication and
the identity of the requesting entity. The UIDAI and the Authentication Service Agency (ASA) is
permitted to store this authentication record for 2 + 5 years (as per Regulations 20 and 26/27 of the
Authentication Regulations). Based on this architecture it is possible for the State to track down the
location of the person seeking authentication. Since the requesting entity is also identified, the
activity that the citizen is engaging in is also known. (Sections 2(d), 2(h), 8, 10, 32 of the Act read
with Regulations 18, 20, 26 of the Aadhaar (Authentication) Regulation, 2016).
131) According to the petitioners, the Authority has the following information (according to the
document on technical specification of Aadhaar registered devices published by the Authority in
February 2017) Aadhaar number, name of Aadhaar holder, whether authentication failed or was
successful, reason for such failure, requesting entities Internet Protocol (IP) address, date and time
of authentication, device ID and its unique ID of authentication device which can be used to locate
the individual.
132) Authentication of Aadhaar number enables tracking, tagging and profiling of individuals as the
IP Address of the authentication device gives an idea of its geographical location (determinable
within the range of 2 kilometres), country, city, region, pin code/zip code). Mr. Divan submits that
an individual is on an electronic leash, tethered to a central data repository that has the architecture
to track all activities of an individual. The Aadhaar Act creates a database of all Indian residents and
citizens with their core biometric information, demographic information and meta data. In light of
the enormous potential of information, concentration of information in a single entity, i.e., the
Authority, enabling easier access to aggregated information puts the State in a position to wield
enormous power. Given that with advancements in technology, such information can affect every
aspect of an individuals personal, professional, religious and social life, such power is a threat to
individual freedoms guaranteed under Articles 19(1)(a) to 19(1)(g) of the Constitution and other
fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 21 (Right to informational privacy) and Article 25 of
the Constitution. It was submitted that the Aadhaar Act treats the entire populace of the country as
potential criminals ignoring the necessity to balance the States mandate of protection against crime
with the right to personal bodily integrity which is envisaged under Article 21 read with Article 20(3)
of the Constitution. It does not require the collection of data to have a nexus with a crime. Mr. Sibal
submits that in the decision in Selvi & Ors. v. State of Karnataka60, this Court has held:
The theory of interrelationship of rights mandates that the right against
self-incrimination should also be read as a component of personal liberty under
Article 21. Hence, our understanding of the right to privacy should account for its
intersection with Article 20(3)
133) It is argued that the Aadhaar Act, therefore, violates the right to protection from
self-incrimination, and the right to privacy and personal dignity/bodily integrity
under Article 20(3) and Article 21.
Indian Kanoon - http://indiankanoon.org/doc/127517806/
114
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