Consider the following statements:
1. Aadhaar metadata cannot be stored for more than three months.
2. State cannot enter into any contract with private corporations for sharing of Aadhaar data.
3. Aadhaar is mandatory for obtaining insurance products.
4. Aadhaar is mandatory for getting benefits funded out of the Consolidated Fund of
India.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Supreme Court had ruled that Aadhaar metadata can not be stored for more than six months. This nullified the provision in the Act, which allowed storage of such data for five years. Therefore, statement 1 is not correct. Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act states that Central or State Governments can make possession of an Aadhaar number or Aadhaar authentication mandatory for receipt of subsidies, benefits or services funded out of the Consolidated Fund of India. Therefore, statement 4 is correct. IRDAI has issued an advisory in January 2019 that clarified that aadhaar is not mandatory for obtaining insurance. Therefore, statement 3 is not correct. Further, many sections of the Aadhaar Act were struck down. This includes the part of section 57 which allowed providing private corporations to verify Aadhaar data which was held unconstitutional. Therefore, statement 2 is correct. Therefore the correct answer is (b).