Ludhiana: Protect student’s Aadhaar data or face action, govt schools told

The state’s school education department issued an order adopting a strict stance to maintain the confidentiality of students’ Aadhaar data.
In a letter issued to all district education officers (DEO) and school heads, the department sent out clear instructions that Aadhaar data received from school students for various purposes should not be made public at any level.
This order seeks to address the concerns that were raised over the apprehensions of misuse of sensitive data. The department has stressed that Aadhaar information should be used only for school operations, scholarship schemes and implementation of government programmes, as it includes important information like name, address, date of birth and a unique identification number and maintaining its confidentiality is essential for the safety and privacy of the students.
Speaking about the reason behind the letter, secondary education director general Vinay Bublani said, “This is just in compliance with the guidelines of the central government regarding the breach of this confidential data.”
“The letter has been issued asking the concerned officials to take all the necessary precautionary measures as they have been strictly directed to use the data only for government related programmes and admissions,” he added.
Reacting to the development, a principal of the government senior secondary school said, “There have been instances where the data was compromised, which created trouble for few of our students.”
“A few private colleges visited our school and ended up causing problems for a few girl students by making unnecessary phone calls,” the principal said, adding that the strict reminders were necessary for the institution.
The letter also warns of strict action in case an incident of Aadhaar data being made public, either by any district education officer or school head comes to light.
According to the officials, access to the data should be limited and should not be shared with any outside person, organisation or website, and in case of any suspicion of Aadhaar data being misused or being made public, the department should be informed immediately.