UIDAI calls for clarity, ‘informed consent’ prior to Aadhaar biometrics submissions
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has unveiled new guidelines for requesting entities (REs) to obtain resident consent on paper or electronically before carrying out Aadhaar biometric authentications.
The guidelines come from the Indian Ministry of Electronics & IT, which highlighted the need for residents to understand the types of data collected when authenticating themselves using their Aadhaar numbers.
From a technical standpoint, “authentication” refers here to the process by which Aadhaar numbers, along with demographic or biometric information of an individual, are compared to data in the Central Identities Data Repository.
The Aadhaar Amendment Act 2019 introduced the necessity for Aadhaar number holders to provide informed consent before authentication. Some REs, UIDAI claimed, such as private company Karza Technologies, did not adhere to such principles and were asked to pause Aadhaar-related services.
The new guidelines now aim to rectify and prevent situations like this in the future, with REs now having to ensure that residents understand the type of data being collected as well as the purpose of Aadhaar authentications.
The Authority has also added that logs of authentication transactions, including the acquired consent, should be kept only for the period as prescribed in the Aadhaar Regulations.
“Purging of such logs after expiry of the said time period shall also be done as per the Aadhaar Act and its regulations,” reads the announcement.
Finally, UIDAI clarified that REs should not store Aadhaar in physical or electronic form without concealing the first eight digits of the Aadhaar number.
The Authority has further asked REs to provide effective grievance-handling mechanisms for residents and cooperate with it and other agencies for any security audit as required under the law.
The new regulations come weeks after UIDAI started rolling out financial services in rural areas, and amid further expansion of Aadhaar’s use.
