Student privacy at stake: Orissa HC pulls up Centre, orders to amend APAAR consent form within two months

Addressing a crucial legal issue concerning the right to privacy of students and their guardians, the Orissa High Court on Friday (December 12) directed the Union Ministry of Education (MoE) to amend the consent form linked to the Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR) portal. 

The Court held that students and guardians must be given a clear option to refuse consent for enrolment, reiterating that the scheme is voluntary in nature.

A Single Bench of Justice Sashikanta Mishra observed that while the government has consistently maintained that APAAR enrolment is voluntary, the existing consent form does not provide an option to opt out at the outset. The Judge noted that if a scheme is truly voluntary, the consent form must explicitly include a provision allowing parents or guardians to refuse enrolment from the beginning.

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The APAAR scheme, introduced by the Government of India under the MoE on July 29, 2023, aims to implement the ‘one student, one unique ID’ initiative by assigning students a lifelong 12-digit ID linked to Aadhaar for storing academic records. Though the government claims participation is optional, the petitioners argued otherwise.

The case arose after the father of a KG-1 student received a letter from the school seeking consent for generating an APAAR ID. Raising concerns over privacy and data sharing, he challenged the absence of a refusal clause before the High Court. The petitioners contended that mandatory Aadhaar linkage violated the Supreme Court’s ruling in Justice K.S. Puttaswamy vs Union of India (2018) and provisions of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.

After examining the consent form, the Court found that while it allowed withdrawal of consent later, it failed to provide an option to deny consent initially. Holding this to be inadequate, the Court directed the authorities to amend the consent form within two months to include a clear opt-out provision.