Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Director General Bhuvnesh Kumar. Credit: X/@UIDAI
The new Aadhaar app being tested will minimize the amount of data that users of the 12-digit identifier in India need to share in public places like hotels and allow selective information to be shared as needed, Bhuvnesh Kumar, executive director of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), told The Hindu in an interview.
“This is what we want Aadhaar to be,” Mr Kumar said, showing a thick QR code on the Aadhaar app, which is to be formally launched and promoted after it incorporates more features and undergoes a public test. The app is already available on mobile app marketplaces. A dense QR code represents all the data of an Aadhaar user, including his photo, completely offline.
Impossible to fake
The QR code would be scanned by others using the Aadhaar app, and since it is digitally signed by the UIDAI using standard cryptographic techniques, it would be virtually impossible to forge. This feature would also reduce the problem of images or PDF documents with forged Aadhaar details.
This would make Aadhaar the only ID “that can be verified offline”, Mr Kumar said. In recent rule amendments, the UIDAI has introduced the concept of ‘Offline Verification Seeking Entities’ or OSCEs.
OSCEs would be public places such as hotel receptions that would be “discouraged”, Mr Kumar said, from asking guests to share physical copies of Aadhaar and would instead receive a digitally verified record of the visitor’s Aadhaar with assurances that the details are legitimate.
Mr Kumar ruled out an outright ban on storing physical identification data as it may exclude those without a smartphone. The data would be “stored in a secure manner online that can be audited by empaneled auditors”, he said.
Age verification
Since the app allows users to selectively share details, it would be able to accomplish something like age verification without sharing more data than necessary. For example, platforms that would like to age-restrict certain products could only look up the user’s age, with the UIDAI digital signature ensuring that the data comes from a valid Aadhaar record.
Published – 11 Dec 2025 20:04 IST
