- There have been discussions going around Aadhaar biometric access and the Centre allowing Aadhar-based authentication to enhance national security, Law and Order.
- Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique identification number to every individual resident of India.
- It serves as proof of identity as it is linked to biometric and demographic information.
- The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has strict regulations about the disclosure of data in order to protect a person’s right to privacy.
- The Supreme Court has said the Aadhaar metadata cannot be stored for more than six months.
- Section 33(1) of the Aadhaar Act permits the disclosure of certain information under an order of a court not inferior to that of a High Court judge.
- Section 29(1) prohibits the sharing of biometric data under any circumstances except as permitted by the law. This clause ensures biometric information (Fingerprints and iris scans) is kept confidential.
| UIDAI Measures Virtual Aadhaar (Virtual ID) is a temporary, revocable 16–digit random number mapped with the Aadhaar number. The Masked Aadhaar option allows you to mask your Aadhaar number in your downloaded e- Aadhaar while only the last 4 digits are visible. OTP (One Time Password) based authentication is an alternative method for verifying an individual’s identity using Aadhaar. UIDAI has introduced tokenization within the Aadhaar authentication system. |
Dig Deeper: Read about the Puttaswamy judgement and right to Privacy under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.
