134 crore active users hold Aadhaar cards

• Aadhaar is the world’s largest biometric identity system with approximately 134 crores live Aadhaar holders, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Jitin Prasada said in Lok Sabha on February 4.

• As part of a nationwide clean-up effort to maintain the continued accuracy and integrity of the Aadhaar database, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)  has deactivated more than 2.5 crore Aadhaar numbers of deceased persons till date.

• In case of the death of a person, it is essential that his/her Aadhaar number is deactivated to prevent potential identity fraud, or unauthorised usage of such Aadhaar number for availing welfare benefits.

• No Aadhaar number is ever re-assigned to another individual.

Measures to prevent potential identity fraud

Several measures have been taken to reduce the risk of identity fraud and ensure leak-proof delivery of benefits in the country. 

The key measures include: 

i) Biometric Lock/Unlock feature enables an Aadhaar number holder to lock his biometrics, preventing any unauthorised authentication attempts.

ii) Aadhaar Lock/Unlock feature for an Aadhaar number holder.

iii) Deployment of face authentication having ‘Liveness Detection feature’ to prevent spoofing and ensure the physical presence of the beneficiary during transactions.

iv) Offline Verification: Promotion of aadhaar secure QR code, Aadhaar paperless offline e-KYC, e-Aadhaar and Aadhaar verifiable credentials for offline identity verification.

v) No sharing of core biometric information of Aadhaar number holders in any manner by UIDAI.

vi) Secure Data Storage: Mandatory use of Aadhaar data vaults by all requesting entities to store Aadhaar numbers in an encrypted format.

vii) Database Sanitisation: Regular de-duplication and deactivation of Aadhaar numbers belonging to deceased persons.

viii) Updation of demographic details of an Aadhaar number holder is allowed only as per documents listed by UIDAI.

ix) UIDAI has launched a new Aadhaar app which facilitates sharing of verified credentials by Aadhaar number holder with the Offline Verification Seeking Entities (OVSE) in a secure and seamless manner.

Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)

• The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is a statutory authority established under the provisions of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 (Aadhaar Act, 2016) on July 12, 2016 by the government of India, under the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY). 

• The Aadhaar Act, 2016 has been amended by the Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Act, 2019.

• Prior to its establishment as a statutory authority, UIDAI was functioning as an attached office of the then Planning Commission (now NITI Aayog). 

• On September 12, 2015, the government revised the Allocation of Business Rules to attach the UIDAI to the Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DeitY).

• UIDAI was created with the objective to issue Unique Identification numbers (UID), named as Aadhaar, to all residents of India. 

• UIDAI has its headquarters in New Delhi and functions through its eight regional offices situated in Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Mumbai, New Delhi and Ranchi.

• UIDAI has two data centres – one at Hebbal (Bengaluru) in Karnataka and the other at Manesar (Gurugram) in Haryana. 

• The first UID number was issued on September 29, 2010 to a resident of Nandurbar in Maharashtra.

What is Aadhaar?

• Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique ID issued to an individual. Aadhaar uses demographic information (name, date of birth, gender and address), photograph of the face, fingerprints and iris to identify a resident. These items of information are mandatory.

• The objective of Aadhaar is to empower residents of India with a unique identity and digital platform only for the purpose of identity proof.

• Aadhaar number is a proof of identity. It does not confer any right of citizenship or domicile in respect of an Aadhaar number holder. 

• Under the Aadhaar Act, 2016, UIDAI is responsible for Aadhaar enrolment and authentication, including operation and management of all stages of Aadhaar life cycle, developing the policy, procedure and system for issuing Aadhaar numbers to individuals and perform authentication and the security of identity information and authentication records of individuals.