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NEW DELHI: The UIDAI on Tuesday made a startling charge before the Supreme Court that Google and the smart card lobby did not want Aadhaar to succeed because if UID emerges as a foolproof way to authenticate identity, they will be out of business.Appearing for the Unique Identity Authority of India, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi told a CJI-headed Constitution bench that a campaign had been unleashed that Aadhaar should’ve been like smart cards, a Europe-based commercial venture. “If Aadhaar succeeds, smart cards will be out of business. Google does not want it. Smart card lobby does not want Aadhaar to succeed. That’s why these allegations are being made,” he said.* ‘Aadhaar data not on internet, can’t be stolen’Some of the petitioners, who have challenged the validity of Aadhaar Act, had also mentioned that instead of Aadhaar authentication sourced from UIDAI, which stored huge meta data about citizens’ biometric and demographic details, it would be better to put whatever data was needed for authentication purpose in a smart card, like credit or debit cards, for authentication by swiping.The bench asked Dwivedi whether Aadhaar could function a corresponding robust data protection regime. “The real apprehension is the use of social network site data to affect elections in democracies. The problem is symptomatic and we do not live in isolation. We cannot have a blinkered approach as when we write the judgment on this, it could govern citizens for generations,” it said.Dwivedi responded, “Please don’t bring in Cambridge Analytica into Aadhaar. Unlike Cambridge Analytica, Aadhaar has not use artificial intelligence. Aadhaar only has a matching algorithm to establish ‘I am me’. A phobia is being created that Aadhaar meta data is a like an atom bomb which can go off any time. But the truth is it is secured in the best possible way. It is not connected to the internet to allow online stealing of data. The data cannot be analysed by anyone.”