Data Privacy Challenges in Indian E-Governance: A Study of Aadhaar- Linked Services

Aadhaar has become a platform of Indian e-governance since the scheme provides identity authentication to provide welfare, authentication, and access to public services, as provided in the Aadhaar Act, 2016. The jurisprudence of privacy, K.S. Puttaswamy, provided by the Supreme Court, had an impact on the legal architecture of Aadhaar and later statutory law, such as the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, recognizing the right to personal data protection and the need to process personal data lawfully. Simultaneously, Aadhaar-based services persistently bring up the recurring issues of informational privacy, functionality creep, authentication failure, welfare exclusion, weak grievance redress, and a lack of balance between state capacity and citizens' control over data. This paper explores these challenges by conducting a doctrinal and policy analysis of Aadhaar-based e-governance services in India and contends that the question is no longer whether or not the digital identity can enhance service delivery, but whether governance safeguards are strong enough to enable legality, proportionality, accountability, and inclusion.