Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor and whistleblower who often calls out governments that tend to spy on citizens, has now come out in support of the Indian journalist who exposed a breach in the Aadhar program. The journalist exposed security gaps in the security of biometric details of millions of citizens in the database. 

The journalists exposing the #Aadhaar breach deserve an award, not an investigation. If the government were truly concerned for justice, they would be reforming the policies that destroyed the privacy of a billion Indians. Want to arrest those responsible? They are called @UIDAI. https://t.co/xyewbK2WO2

Snowden has pointed out vulnerabilities about Aadhaar earlier too. "It is the natural tendency of government to desire perfect records of private lives. History shows that no matter the laws, the result is abuse," he had tweeted last week.

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Rachna Khaira, the Chandigarh-based journalist with the Tribune was able to access personal information of 1.2 billion Indian citizens in the Aadhaar database. She could get access to the details for just INR 500 and was later named in a criminal complaint by the UIDAI. 

It is the natural tendency of government to desire perfect records of private lives. History shows that no matter the laws, the result is abuse. https://t.co/7HSQSZ4T3f

© Reuters

The Aadhaar database has sensitive information about citizens such as names, age, address, cell phone numbers and iris scans. Aadhaar has been long opposed by critics, journalists and security experts as it can be used as a tool for mass surveillance. 

Source: Business Day