Explained: What should you do when your Aadhaar card is stolen?

On Saturday, Prem Raj Hutagi got quite a shock – a call from the police making inquiries with regard to the Mangaluru terror blast case followed up by them turning up at his doorstep. Making things worse was the fact that Saturday was the birthday of the 29-year-old who works as a railway gateman. Police said Mohammed Shariq, the prime accused in the Mangaluru autorickshaw blast, pretended to be a Hindu to mask his real identity when he went underground. The 24-year-old, hailing from Thirthahalli in Shivamogga district of Karnataka, was travelling in an autorickshaw with a pressure cooker rigged with a detonator, wires and batteries that exploded near here on 19 November. He suffered burns, and is now being treated in a city hospital and unable to speak. After the explosion, police discovered an Aadhaar card belonging to Hutagi from Hubballi. Which is when they headed to Hutagi’s home. Hutagi, who has been cleared of any involvement in the matter by the police, told the media he lost his Aadhaar card  twice but never complained. Hutagi was quoted as saying by NDTV, “Around 7:30, I received a call from a police Sub Inspector. He asked where I lost my Aadhaar card. They also asked me about my parents. I have given all information, including my photos.” Hutagi parents Marutirao and Renuka told the police he was not in Mangaluru, but in Tumakuru. Director-General & Inspector-General of Police Praveen Sood tweeted, “Premraj is a victim of identity theft. It’s confirmed. He has nothing to do with this incident.” So, what should you do if your card is lost or stolen? Let’s take a closer look: Make a police complaint The first thing you should do is make a police complaint. Unfortunately, Hutagi neglected to do this despite being urged by his loved ones. “I told him to lodge a complaint when he lost his card, but he never did. We are sad that this happened on his birthday,” Renuka told The Hindu. Hutagi said he lost his Aadhaar card twice over the past year  –once in Hubballi and the second time on a bus. Hutagi said he did not report the loss of the card as he had the unique ID through which he got another card printed. “I never knew it would be misused to this extent,” a shocked Hutagi was quoted as saying by NDTV. [caption id=“attachment_11664201” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A cooker fitted with detonator, wires and batteries found during the investigation after an explosion in an auto-rickshaw in Mangaluru. PTI[/caption] Meanwhile, Karnataka Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Alok Kumar called for the public to learn from this incident. “Learnings from Mangalore blast case. Plz be careful if you lose your Aadhaar card. Use Lock & Unlock facility available on the UIDAI site to prevent its misuse. Plz verify the antecedents of tenants before renting it out. Effective neighbourhood watch system to be in place,” he tweeted. Protect yourself Experts say there’s only one authority when it comes to dealing with Aadhaar data – the Unique Identification Authority of India. Which means it’s up to you to protect your own data. Arjun CR, police inspector, cyber cell, Bengaluru South, told News18, “UIDAI is the only authority dealing with Aadhaar card data and only they can verify it. There is no channel or port with police or intelligence as well to check if an Aadhaar card is original or not. Hence, we see multiple cases wherein fraudsters have carried Aadhaar cards in the name of the dead as well.” Arjun pointed out one easy way to tell if someone is misusing your Aadhaar. “When anyone wants to verify their Aadhaar card or wishes to change details, they get an OTP on their registered mobile number. That’s the only way for people to know if someone is trying to manipulate their ID,” he added. A senior official with the UIDAI told News18, “Data is a treasure in itself and it is highly expensive. Anybody with substantial data on anything may be wanted by many. Data monetisation is very rampant these days. The only way to safeguard data is by awareness. But until now the governance has concentrated more on creating a system to form a universal identification for the citizens. They are yet to bring in security of data and privacy strictly," he explained.

Vinay Kumar, an activist for Aadhaar reforms based in Bengaluru, blamed the Centre.

“Since its inception, we have seen several cases of identity theft and fraud through Aadhaar being reported, yet UIDAI maintains on their website that ’till date, no Aadhaar holder has suffered any financial loss on account of such misuse’. A simple search on the internet will throw up many cases of people who have lost money by misuse of their Aadhaar. It is well known that the design & implementation of Aadhaar is flawed and to make matters worse we do not have an adequate legal framework to prevent its misuse,” Kumar told News9. “Impersonation for terror activities is a serious issue although they have not happened as frequently as the other Aadhaar-related fraud that we see every day. If only we did not ignore the common misuse of the Aadhaar that happens around us, we wouldn’t have allowed such a weak system to exist. The government has made people vulnerable by forcing a single identification and authentication mechanism without adequate data protection and privacy protection measures,” he alleged. And even if your card hasn’t been stolen or misplaced, don’t share a photocopy. In May, the UIDAI urged the public to use a masked Aadhaar that displays only the last four digits of the Aadhaar number. “Do not share photocopy of your Aadhaar with any organisations because it can be misused. Alternatively, please use a masked Aadhaar which displays only the last 4 digits of your Aadhaar number. It can be downloaded from UIDAI official website https://myaadhaar.uidai.gov.in. Please select the option ‘Do you want a masked Aadhaar’ and proceed to download,” the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has said in a statement.

The existence of any Aadhaar number can be verified at https://myaadhaar.uidai.gov.in/verifyAadhaar.

To verify offline, you can scan the QR code on e-Aadhaar or Aadhaar letter or Aadhaar PVC card using QR code scanner in the mAadhaar mobile application, it said. “Only those organisations that have obtained a user licence from the UIDAI can use Aadhaar for establishing the identity of a person. Unlicensed private entities like hotels or film halls are not permitted to collect or keep copies of Aadhaar card. It is an offence under the Aadhaar Act 2016. If a private3 entity demands to see your Aadhaar card, or seeks a photocopy of your Aadhaar card, please verify that they have valid user licence from the UIDAI," the statement read. The ministry also urged people to avoid downloading e-Aadhaar cards on public computers at internet cafes. “However, if you do so, please ensure that you delete all the downloaded copies of e-Aadhaar permanently from that computer," the ministry said. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.