Indian government revokes access to identity database from 5,000 officials

Horse/stable door/bolted

The Indian government has reportedly revoked access of around 5,000 officials to the national biometric identity database, which contains the personal information of every Indian citizen.

It comes a week after a journalist working for India's Tribune newspaper, Rachna Khaira, found that anyone can buy access to these records for as little as 500 rupees - less than £6.

However, the UIDAI, the Indian government department responsible for managing the database, responded by filing a criminal complaint against the reporter.

An official told told The Economic Times that the organisation had revoked "privileges given to designated officers for access".

It also claims to have overhauled the security of the system - in just the last week. Now, to use the database, individuals need to use a biometric authentication system so that their credentials can't be used by anyone else.

In the past, staff working for the organisation only needed a 12-digit pass-code. This was a quick and easy way for them to handle 500,000 daily requests regarding citizen data, but also easily transferrable, particularly with so many staff members routinely accessing the database.

Many people have called the UIDAI's criminal complaint an attack on press freedom. And to pour more fuel onto the fire, the Tribune has also published an email exchange with the UIDAI.

"You are requested to send your response to UIDAI on the sender's email by 8th January, 2018 failing which it will be presumed that there was no access to any fingerprints and/or iris scan," read the email.

The newspaper's editor-in-chief responded by writing: "We feel sorry that the authorities are unable to appreciate that a breach has taken place.

"Still, we are more than happy to provide you any such information and will assist UIDAI to maintain integrity of the Aadhaar data".

When the Indian government first decided to implement a nationwide citizen database it was warned that it would be a target for identify thieves and other criminals - but went ahead anyway.