WikiLeaks has recently published a report saying that India’s Aadhar card details might have been compromised by the United States' top intelligence agency CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) through a technology that has been developed by Cross Match, a US-based technology provider for cyber spying, to access biometric data through covert operations conducted across the world.
WikiLeaks called this project as 'ExpressLane project of the CIA'.
On August 25, Wikileaks tweeted "Have CIA spies already stolen #India's national ID card database?"
According to the reports "Cross Match was one of the first suppliers of biometric devices certified by UIDAI for Aadhaar program. The company received the Certificate of Approval from the Indian Government in 2011. Cross Match received the Certificate of Approval for its Guardian fingerprint capture device and the I SCAN dual iris capture device on October 7, 2011. Both systems utilize Cross Match's patented Auto Capture feature, which quickly captures high-quality images with minimal operator involvement."
However, UIDAI has denied any kind of data theft. They have released the statement stating that ”Some vested interests are spreading misinformation. As ‘cross match’ is one of the devices used in biometric devices used in the Aadhaar ecosystem, the biometrics captured by Aadhaar is allegedly unauthorisedly accessed by others”.
“In addition, there are many other rigorous security features and processes within UIDAI ensuring that no biometric data of any individual is unauthorized accessed by anyone in any manner whatsoever,” the UIDAI said.