Over the past few months and even years, Aadhaar has been in the news quite often. But unfortunately, most of the times, it was for the wrong reason. 

The government's directive of linking every possible official document that one has with their Aadhaar card did not go down well with the citizens of the country. However, all that backlash reduced drastically because well, what could one possibly do? What's done is done. If you want your sim, your bank account and everything else to work, you better link your Aadhaar card. 

© Paisa Bazaar

However, what was revealed today has taken the entire country by storm. Time and again, the fear of our Aadhaar details being leaked have come to the forefront. And today, all of us have been proved right about it, even though we didn't want to be. 

The Tribune decided to conduct an investigation in Chandigarh to determine the security of Aadhaar details and the result was nothing short of shocking. 

© The Wire

Rachna Khaira, a correspondent posed as a customer and contacted an “agent” who created a “gateway” and gave her a login ID and password to access the Aadhaar. All this happened in about 10 minutes for a mere payment of â¹500 through Paytm. 

When the Additional Director-General of UIDAI Regional Centre, Sanjay Jindal was asked about the same, he said, “Except the Director-General and I, no third person in Punjab should have a login access to our official portal. Anyone else having access is illegal, and is a major national security breach.”

All this started around six months ago when anonymous groups were created on Whatsapp, who targeted around 3 lakh village-level enterprise (VLE), operators.

As soon as the news came out, Twitter users were shocked to the core. 

1. A Nightmare Indeed.

Rs 500. That's all it takes for someone to steal the data of a billion citizens. Envisioned by UPA as a tool for inclusion, #Aadhaar has become an identity theft nightmare under the NDA. https://t.co/7UpkzI34Ov

— Oommen Chandy In (@ChandyIn) January 4, 2018 2. Same Price As A Starbucks Coffee.

Hello biometricked citizens of India.

UIDAI's central server has been breached. All of our Aadhaar data, all 1 billion of us, can be bought for FUCKIN Rs 500!

That's how cheap our info is. The government has screwed with all of our lives quite royally.https://t.co/9IiojtjCaR

— Meghnad (@Memeghnad) January 4, 2018 3. Great News For Hackers.

Dear person who tried to hack into my FB last night (and failed), try hacking entire India's Aadhaar data - might be easier it seems.

Just Rs 500 and the ENTIRE database is accessible. https://t.co/ai0VlF2VQe

— वरà¥à¤£ (@varungrover) January 4, 2018 4. Let The Memes Begin.

And I can't even go on a date with just Rs 500 ð¢ pic.twitter.com/mBClJD7Skm

— East India Comedy (@EastIndiaComedy) January 4, 2018 5. Hmmm…

I've got ten mins....and in pretty sure some of my friends have money.....hmmm..... https://t.co/JzeELxkEoB

— Vir Das (@thevirdas) January 4, 2018 6. Can't Agree More. 

Wow! We are so badly fucked! https://t.co/CczADKIpAL

— Atul Khatri (@one_by_two) January 4, 2018 7. This Is Escalating Way Too Quickly.

Just imagine, if a journalist could access the database so easily (in 10 mins!) in just Rs 500, who knows which other foreign entity has already gained access? Someone from an enemy state might have gained access too.

This is a giant giant national security disaster.

— Meghnad (@Memeghnad) January 4, 2018 8. Cheaper Than Netflix.

What's cheaper than a magazine or video streaming service subscription? Unrestricted access to the @UIDAI database. https://t.co/UJJgBzsCAn

— Harsha Vadlamani (@Hrsha) January 4, 2018 9. What A Start To 2018.

I give up. We are headed for disaster. https://t.co/MN18WGcaKp

— Ashish K. Mishra (@akm1410) January 4, 2018 10. This Is Scary AF. 

500 bucks. That's how easy it was for someone to get access to the entire Aadhar database. This is going to get so bad, so quick. https://t.co/gV3Y11UhCd

— Vijay Nair (@vijay_nair) January 4, 2018

The latest development in the story is that UIDAI has outrightly denied these claims and has called the Tribune's report a case of misreporting. 

Tribune's Story “Rs 500, 10 minutes, and you have access to billion Aadhaar details” is a case of misreporting. No biometric data breach @thetribunechd @rsprasad @ceo_uidai @timesofindia @firstpost @IndiaToday @ZeeNews

— Aadhaar (@UIDAI) January 4, 2018

While We Are Sitting Here Thinking This:

Thanks for your denial. Now waiting for you to share all details on this case of misreporting. https://t.co/OXMyVBndp1

— Ashish K. Mishra (@akm1410) January 4, 2018

All jokes aside, this is something that needs to sorted out as soon as possible or else the consequences could be severe.