RS Sharma's personal details were not fetched from Aadhaar Database: UIDAI

UIDAI claimed that RS Sharma's personal information was taken from Google and other sites.

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Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on Sunday dismissed claims that the personal information of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI) chief RS Sharma was hacked. Stating that Sharma is a public servant, UIDAI said that the so-called ‘hacked’ information was already available online on a public domain. 

UIDAI claimed that any information published on Twitter about RS Sharma was not fetched from Aadhaar database or UIDAI's servers, news agency ANI reported. UIDAI said that the information posted on Twitter was taken from Google and other sites. 

TRAI chief on Saturday posted his Aadhaar number on the microblogging site, challenging everyone to show how it can be used to harm him. Hours later, a French security expert who goes under the pseudonym Elliot Alderson, (@fs0c131y) wrote, "People managed to get your personal address, dob (date of birth) and your alternate phone number. I stop here, I hope you will understand why make your #Aadhaar number public is not a good idea."

When contacted by PTI earlier on Saturday, Sharma declined to make any detailed comment on the matter by saying, "Let the challenge run for some time".

The challenge by Sharma has got over 2,850 retweets, and 3,364 likes.

While many on Twitter claimed victory over 'leaking' Sharma's personal details post the challenge, the TRAI chief asserted through multiple tweets and replies that the challenge had never been about phone numbers and other information, but for causing harm using knowledge of his Aadhaar number.

"No I did not challenge them for phone number and other info. I challenged them for causing me harm! So far no success. Wish them luck," Sharma wrote on Twitter.

The high drama played out on the microblogging platform just a day after Justice Srikrishna committee came out with its report on data protection where it mooted changes in the Aadhaar Act and proposed new safeguards to protect information of Aadhaar holders.