How did Aadhaar helpline sneak into your mobile? UIDAI says it has no role

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which runs the Aadhaar project, said on Friday that it did not ask phone manufacturers or mobile service providers to pre-install a UIDAI toll-free number.

The clarification also said the number (1800-300-1947) many people spotted on their Android devices was outdated. UIDAI's response came after people on social media questioned why the number was being saved by default in people’s contact list on Android phones.

"It is emphasised that the said 18003001947is not a valid UIDAI toll free number and some vested interest are trying to create unwarranted confusion in the public. Our valid toll free number is 1947 which is functional for more than the last two years," a UIDAI statement said.

The Aadhaar-issuing body reiterated it did not ask "telecom service providers or mobile manufacturers or Android" to include any of these numbers in the default list of public service numbers.

The latest controversy involving UIDAI and Aadhaar, a 12-digit unique identity number that has sparked security concerns in India, came to limelight after French hacker Robert Baptiste, who goes by pseudonym Elliot Alderson, asked people on Twitter if they had the UIDAI helpline in their phonebooks. 

Within hours, hundreds posted screenshots and confirmed it was indeed the case for Android phones, even as they questioned the protocol through which the UIDAI number got into their phonebooks without their explicit consent.

Baptiste had earlier pointed out that having the UIDAI helpline (1800-300-1947) could just be “the tip of the iceberg”, hinting there could be additional data or trackers on Indian phone manufacturers’ devices.

While it could not be independently confirmed with the phone manufacturers as to how the helpline was pre-saved on their phones, Business Standard reviewed handsets from Motorola, OnePlus, Samsung, and Nokia, which had the same number automatically in the phonebooks.

A source in the UIDAI said there had been no communication from the UIDAI in this regard and the phone manufacturers must have found the helpline number to be as useful as the emergency number.

That seems unlikely as other important numbers such as women’s helpline and fire emergency are not added automatically, said Arnav Gupta, co-founder at Coding Blocks, who had earlier worked at Micromax developing handsets.

“Every Android phone tries to connect to the internet and as soon as it does, it downloads a basic list of emergency contacts of each country. In India, it is distress number 112 and the UIDAI helpline,” said Gupta.

He explained that the government would have had to issue some guidelines to phone manufacturers to download this specific number, even as some operators seemed to be loading the UIDAI helpline in the SIM card as well.