Now PricewaterhouseCoopers India will be carrying out Aadhaar’s audit

If you think Aadhaar project lacks security and privacy can be invaded at any given time, worry not as the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has hired PricewaterhouseCoopers to build an additional layer of oversight by reviewing the security of the entire ecosystem.

PwC will also keep an eagle’s eye on UIDAI data centres and servers with government departments and private agencies which are engaged with Aadhaar.

Sivarama Krishnan, executive director of PwC, said it is important to build a trust in the system and also protect it from external threats.

“The current mandate will ensure the "extra oversight" and may help in quelling some fears such as those expressed by the judiciary and other privacy activists,” he said.

Recently, the Supreme Court had raised concerns over Aadhaar and had directed to use the citizen information only for cooking gas, public distribution system, pensions, Jan Dhan Yojana and the national rural employment guarantee scheme.

Meanwhile, UIDAI director general ABP Pandey said PwC will review if the partners are conforming to the security standard and check for any gaps, which can be brought to UID's notice.

"The way we have designed our technology is that the main data is not stored on any cloud; it is completely isolated. So even if people try to access it, they won't be able to get to the core," he said.