Aadhaar Centralization Amplifies Breach Risk

Updated: 2026.01.14 14D ago 4 sources
A simple IDOR in India’s income‑tax portal let any logged‑in user view other taxpayers’ records by swapping PAN numbers, exposing names, addresses, bank details, and Aadhaar IDs. When a single national identifier is linked across services, one portal bug becomes a gateway to large‑scale identity theft and fraud. This turns routine web mistakes into systemic failures. — It warns that centralized ID schemes create single points of failure and need stronger authorization design, red‑team audits, and legal accountability.

Sources

UK Scraps Mandatory Digital ID Enrollment for Workers After Public Backlash
msmash 2026.01.14 85% relevant
Both pieces concern the political and security risks of large, state‑led digital identity projects: the UK reversal mirrors the concerns raised about centralized ID schemes (e.g., Aadhaar) — privacy, single‑point‑of‑failure, and political backlash — and the UK article supplies concrete evidence (3M petition, polling collapse) that public resistance can derail such programs.
Illinois Health Department Exposed Over 700,000 Residents' Personal Data For Years
BeauHD 2026.01.09 90% relevant
Both stories show how centralized, cross‑linked public program datasets become single points of catastrophic exposure: Illinois’ misconfigured mapping website exposed Medicaid/Medicare program records for 672,616 people for four years, echoing the Aadhaar point that a centralized identifier/web of services turns one technical failure into mass risk.
India Orders Mobile Phones Preloaded With Government App To Ensure Cyber Safety
msmash 2025.12.01 70% relevant
Preinstalling a government app that likely integrates IMEI/device identifiers and telecom data increases centralized attack surface and single‑point‑of‑failure risk much like the Aadhaar/ID aggregation example: a bug or breach in the app or its backend could expose nationwide device/identity data.
Security Bug In India's Income Tax Portal Exposed Taxpayers' Sensitive Data
BeauHD 2025.10.08 100% relevant
TechCrunch’s report that India’s e‑Filing portal exposed Aadhaar numbers and bank accounts via an IDOR vulnerability.
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