Mozilla is deeply concerned about recent reports that a private citizen was able to easily access the private Aadhaar data of more than one billion Indian citizens as reported by The Tribune.

Despite declaring in November that the Aadhaar system had strict privacy controls, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has failed to protect the private details entrusted to them by Indians, proving the concerns that Mozilla and other organizations have been raising. Breaches like this demonstrate the urgent need for India to pass a strong data protection law.

Mozilla has been raising concerns about the security risks of companies using and integrating Aadhaar into their systems, and this latest, egregious breach should be a giant red flag to all companies as well as to the UIDAI and the Modi Government.