The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has approved a new rule that will require entities such as hotels and event organizers to register with the authority if they want to use Aadhaar to verify the identity of customers.
The move is to discourage places from taking photocopies of customers’ Aadhaar cards and keeping them in physical form as these can be misused. Such practices are also against the current Aadhaar Act.
How will it work?
UIDAI Director General Bhuvnesh Kumar told PTI that the new rule will give these entities access to new technology that will allow them to verify individuals by scanning a QR code or connecting to the new Aadhaar application currently under development.
“The new rule has been approved by the authority and will be announced soon. It will mandate registration of entities seeking offline verification like hotels, event organizers. The aim is to discourage paper-based Aadhaar verification,” Kumar said.
This latest authentication system will also help avoid delays caused by outages of intermediary servers that connect to the central Aadhaar database and ensure smoother processing of various services.
However, entities that prefer offline authentication will be provided API (application programming interface) access by the authority through which they can update their Aadhaar authentication system, PTI reported.
UIDAI is beta-testing a new app that will enable cross-app authentication without having to connect to a central Aadhaar database server for every authentication request.
Where can one use the new Aadhar application?
Access to the new app will not be limited to a few entities as it can also be used by airports, stores that need to sell age-appropriate products and other places that require Aadhaar-based authentication.
“Easy authentication will enhance paperless offline authentication while preserving users’ privacy or any risk of their Aadhaar data being leaked for misuse,” Kumar told PTI.
The new app is expected to further enhance the Aadhaar authentication service in line with the Privacy Act, which will be fully operational within the next 18 months.
This is a significant step towards enabling users to easily update their address proof documents in the new app and also add other family members in the same app who do not own a mobile phone.
