In Brief
This landmark 2018 Supreme Court decision upheld the constitutionality of India's Aadhaar (unique identity) scheme while recognizing the right to privacy as a fundamental right. The Court held that Aadhaar's collection of minimal biometric and demographic data serves legitimate state aims—particularly ensuring welfare benefits reach intended marginalised beneficiaries—and satisfies constitutional proportionality tests. Significant safeguards protect against surveillance: data is minimized, purpose-limited to authentication, encrypted, and stored offline. While the Court modified certain provisions (limiting data retention, restricting metadata, striking down parts of the IT Act linkage, and requiring parental consent for children), it rejected claims that Aadhaar creates an unconstitutional surveillance state. The judgment balances the competing fundamental rights of privacy and the right to receive welfare benefits with dignity, finding the intrusion into privacy minimal relative to the public interest in transparent, leak-free delivery of social welfare programs.
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