Linking Aadhar data with voter ID goes against citizen's right of privacy enshrined in constitution: Priyanka Chaturvedi

Opposing the Elections Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi on Tuesday said that linking Aadhar data with Voter ID goes against citizen's right of privacy enshrined in the constitution as well as undermines democracy.

In a letter to Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, the Shiv Sena MP said that the Bill is a violation of the Aadhaar judgment.

"This bill violates the Supreme Court judgment in Justice KS Puttaswamy (retd.) and Anr. vs. Union of India and Ors. In the judgment, the Court restricted the scope to a limited number of purposes and that the purpose to link (in Section 57) has to be 'backed by law'. The Court permitted the use of Aadhaar authentication solely to welfare programmes. The government's decision to link the Voter Id and Aadhaar clearly violates the judgment," Chaturvedi said in her letter.

She further alleged that the government is using Aadhaar as a mass surveillance machine, even allowing private parties access to it.

"Aadhaar was introduced as an aid for welfare delivery of the various schemes of the government. However, the government has been overreaching the mandate by using Aadhaar as a mass surveillance machine, even allowing private parties access to it (which the Supreme Court rightfully struck down)," the letter reads.

Chaturvedi said that the Bill raises concerns about the violation of the constitutional and fundamental Right to Privacy and the absence of data protection law in the country renders the data of the citizens vulnerable and enables misuse of critical and personal information.

"It also violates electoral secrecy. Linking two data sets, Aadhaar and Voter Identity is an unconstitutional and unnecessary move to undermine our electoral democracy. This Bill is highly questionable and will impact voters' trust in the electoral process and system."

The Shiv Sena MP alleged that despite the Supreme Court's order, Aadhaar data was misused for political purposes.

"In 2015, the government introduced the National Election Roll Purification and Authentication Programme (NERPAP). The Supreme Court passed an interim order in the same year, asking the ECI to suspend Aadhaar voter linkage. Despite this, Aadhaar data was misused for political purposes. In 2018, the chief electoral officer of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh linked Aadhaar data with voter identity cards which led to arbitrarily disenfranchisement of at least 55 lakh voters during the Telangana Assembly Election," she said while adding that this whole fiasco is a clear picture of the terrible consequences of linking Aadhaar with voter identity cards.

"Such these deletions are often systematic bids to deprive specific groups of their voting rights for the benefit of others," she added.

The Shiv Sena MP said that the Bill raises concerns about violating citizens' right to privacy by enabling voter profiling through the linkage of datasets.

"Linkage of Voter Identity with the Aadhaar ecosystem will lead to voter micro-targeting, especially during election campaigning. The Bill raises concerns about violating citizens' right to privacy by enabling voter-profiling through the linkage of datasets," she said.

Recently, the Madras High Court had asked the Election Commission to look into allegations against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that it was illegally using the Aadhaar data of voters in Puducherry for making political gains in the Assembly elections.

"There exist widespread data quality issues in the Aadhaar database (self-reported errors in Aadhaar data are 1.5 times higher than those in the electoral data records) and with the linking of the two data sets, the quality of the voter identity database would be undermined and lead to voter frauds," she added.

She further said that the issues like biometric failures, the absence of adequate infrastructure will again affect the electoral data records, leaving them without any technocratic accountability.

"The problems faced by people, especially the most vulnerable while accessing Aadhaar and Aadhaar related 'benefits' are widely known. Issues such as biometric failures, the absence of adequate infrastructure, and the lack of adequate grievance redressal mechanisms plague the Aadhaar ecosystem. Cases of fingerprints and facial authentication failure are widespread which leave people in a lurch depriving and excluding them of their legal entitlements and rights. Vulnerable sections of society are usually the worst hit by such exclusion. The same issues will affect the electoral data records, leaving them without any technocratic accountability," the letter further reads.

The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 that aims to give effect to the long-pending electoral reforms including linking Aadhaar with the voter ID card was passed in the Rajya Sabha amid din on Tuesday. Earlier on Monday, the Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha.

According to the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill, it provides for amendment of section 23 of the RP Act, 1950, enabling for the linking of electoral roll data with the Aadhaar ecosystem to curb the menace of multiple enrolments of the same person in different places.

It also seeks to amend clause (b) of section 14 of the RP Act, 1950 specifying the 1st day of January, 1st day of April, 1st day of July and 1st day of October in a calendar year as qualifying dates in relation to the preparation or revision of electoral rolls.

( With inputs from ANI )

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