After finally reaching a point where India as a country was successfully
able to establish one such ID proof that is held by every citizen, the issues
regarding the security of user data, have still not faded away. A doubt that
all the Aadhaar card holders are still going through is Aadhaar Card secure?
After a recent breakthrough by a journalist regarding the breach of
Aadhaar card data, the government has finally proceeded towards taking steps to
strengthen the security of all user data. One of the most recent and the most
significant steps taken by the UIDAI, since the launch of Aadhar card is the
introduction of the 16 Digit virtual ID.
What is the 16 Digit Virtual ID
The virtual ID is the new firewall that the unique identification
authority of India has now resorted to. The virtual ID is pretty much like an
OTP which we receive for the purpose of authentication that will also have a
limited validity. This virtual ID will be used in place of the aadhar number
and will be generated, retrieved as well as be revoked by the user only. Therefore,
they will be able to generate it whenever they want to and then revoke it
anytime.
At any given time a user will be able to make use of only one VID number,
which will be generated in a way that deriving the aadhar number of the user
from this ID will not be possible. To generate another VID, the user will have
to wait for its expiry first.
Key steps taken by UIDAI to ensure Aadhar card
data security
Apart from the virtual ID, the UIDAI has also introduced
Limited KYC along with UID Tokens to help do away with all the concerns arising
among users regarding the usage of aadhaar numbers by private entities. These
newly introduced measures will ensure that users can authenticate their
identity with these virtual IDs, without using the aadhar number. So that the
private entities do not get access to the aadhar number in the first place.
The move is expected to be implemented from the 1st
of March and is mandatory for all the authentication bodies. As for the Limited
KYC, the Authentication User Agencies have now been divided two different
categories of Local and Global. Where only the Global AUC’s will be allowed to
store the aadhaar number.
Aadhaar card safety measures you should know of
Apart from the Virtual ID and the Limited KYC explained above, there is
yet another safety measure introduced by UIDAI. This refers to the Aadhaar
token these tokens will be used by the local AUAs for authenticating customers.
The aadhaar tokens will be issued by UIDAI itself and will be different for all
local AUAs so that only the necessary data is shared with agencies on the basis
of its requirements. The user will be provided with these token by UIDAI and
will have to use one particular token for one authenticating agency, and
another token for another agency.
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