TRAI Chief's Aadhaar details leaked after he challenged hackers to prove its vulnerability

In a major embarrassment for Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chief RS Sharma, his Aadhaar card details were leaked online after he shared his Aadhaar numbers on Twitter to show confidence in the system.

Sharing his 12-digit Aadhaar number, the TRAI chief threw a challenge to users to show him if it made him vulnerable to any security risks.

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!

— RS Sharma (@rssharma3) July 28, 2018

Soon after this, a French security expert, with Twitter handle @fs0c131y and nickname Elliot Alderson allegedly revealed personal details of Sharma in a series of tweets.

Alderson was the person who had previously exposed Aadhaar vulnerabilities and flaws in Baba Ramdev’s Kimbho Messenger application.

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The details that the French security expert revealed included TRAI chief’s personal address, birth date, personal mobile number, email, alternate phone number and PAN number.

Leaking Sharma’s personal details, Alderson cautioned him that making Aadhaar number public wasn’t a good idea.

"People managed to get your personal address, DoB and your alternate phone number. I stop here, I hope you will understand why to make your Aadhaar number public is not a good idea," he wrote in a series of tweets.

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!

— RS Sharma (@rssharma3) July 28, 2018

The issue of making Aadhaar details personal reached to the Supreme Court as well, with people and activists fearing that the 12-digit Aadhaar number will be harmful to the privacy of Indian citizens.

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Earlier, amid the debate over privacy concerns, the TRAI chief had claimed that not a single instance of Aadhaar data being breached had been reported and had there been even one, the entire Aadhaar database would have been vulnerable.