India
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Experts question Aadhaar and mobile fields in Census
Telegraph India··17 Aug
The Registrar General has notified 40 questions for Census 2027 Population Enumeration, 13 more than in 2011. New fields include mobile, Aadhaar, voter ID and passport numbers, plus the number of bank accounts, if available. Former NSC acting chair P.C. Mohanan said personal identifiers were irrelevant to a census meant for economic and demographic data.
Prism
What It Means For You
- If you live in Ladakh or snow-bound parts of J and K, Himachal or Uttarakhand, self-enumeration for Population Enumeration opened on 17 August 2026.
- Households filling the 40-item form can be asked for Aadhaar, mobile, voter ID and passport numbers if those documents exist.
- If you hold bank accounts, enumerators are to record how many accounts you have, not the account numbers.
What's Happening
- The Registrar General notified 40 questions for Census 2027 Population Enumeration, including 13 fields not used in 2011.
- Experts including P.C. Mohanan and Amitabh Kundu questioned collecting Aadhaar and mobile numbers for a statistical census.
- Officials said identity details are requested only if available and remain confidential under the Census Act, 1948.
How The Digital Census Is Being Secured
- Census 2027 is India's first fully digital count, with data collected on mobile apps and an optional self-enumeration portal.
- The Centre has cited end-to-end encryption, ISO/IEC 27001:2022 compliance and hosting on centres designated as Critical Information Infrastructure.
- Section 15 of the Census Act treats individual returns as confidential and bars their use as evidence in court.
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