Aadhaar-social media account linking case: UIDAI asks government to make a new law

In the last few months,  a lot has happened  since the Tamil Nadu government suggested  that linking social media and Aadhaar could minimise cybercrime. The matter was being discussed in the Supreme court as well and as per the latest update, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has asked the government to make a law where people have to get their social media and Aadhaar number linked together. As per  a report by Economic Times, UIDAI has stated that the government needs to make a law if they want to link the social media accounts of the individuals with their Aadhaar number as the current legislation only enables the use of the unique identity for its schemes and subsidies. [caption id=“attachment_7401381” align=“alignnone” width=“1024”] UIDAI has stated that the government needs to make a law if they want to link the social media accounts of the individuals with their Aadhaar number[/caption] The report also suggested that when asked if it was practically feasible to link the social media accounts and Aadhaar number, UIDAI reportedly responded by saying that it depends on the implementation agency. According to the report, UIDAI has reminded in the past that it is blind to the usage of the number and this situation can only be rectified if an official law is permitted by the government. To link the two, the government will need access to mobile number and address of social media accounts, which is reportedly not allowed under the Aadhaar Act. Back in April 2019, as per  a report by Business Standard, the Tamil Nadu government had directed various representatives of social media companies and law enforcement authorities to discuss issues relating to sharing of user data and the prevention of cybercrime. The meeting, which was held from 20 to 27 May pointed out that the linking of Aadhaar to a person’s social media account was one possible way of tackling cybercrime.