The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) late on Tuesday advised Aadhaar card holders to refrain from publicly sharing their Aadhaar numbers on social media and throwing challenges to others.
The advisory came in a series of tweets from the UIDAI after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Chairman RS Sharma last week threw a challenge and tweeted his 12-digit unique Aadhaar number, asking if it had made him vulnerable to any security risk. Some of his personal details were reportedly hacked and leaked thereafter.
"Such activities are uncalled for and should be refrained as these are not in accordance with the law," one of the tweets from UIDAI said.
"We emphasise that people should not display or publish their Aadhaar number in public."
The authority also said that doing Aadhaar authentication through somebody else's Aadhaar number or using someone else's Aadhaar number for any purpose may amount to impersonation and thereby constituting a criminal offence under the Aadhaar Act and the Indian Penal Code.
"Any person indulging in such acts or abetting or inciting others to do so makes themselves liable for prosecution and penal action under the law. Therefore, people should refrain from such acts," said another tweet.
After the TRAI chairman threw open the challenge, a French security expert, who goes by the nickname Elliot Alderson and uses twitter handle @fs0c131y, in a series of tweets caused ripples on the social media, leaking several details of RS Sharma.
These included "personal address, DoB, alternate phone number" and he also explained how risky it was to make the Aadhaar number public.
"People managed to get your personal address, DoB and your alternate phone number. I stop here, I hope you will understand why making your Aadhaar number public is not a good idea," Alderson wrote.
Earlier, Sharma had tweeted: "My Aadhaar number is 7621 7768 2740. Now I give this challenge to you: Show me one concrete example where you can do any harm to me.”