There is a procedure of locking one's Aadhaar biometrics which ensures privacy and confidentiality of a resident's biometric data.
Is my Aadhaar data safe? That is the biggest question playing on the mind of every Indian today, who is required to have an Aadhaar card. Although the government is making every possible effort towards the safety and security of biometric data, the recent incidents of leakage of some people’s Aadhaar details – including Dhoni’s – have raised questions on data safety.
It need to be noted that Aadhaar has become very important now keeping in view the fact that the Aadhaar number has been made compulsory by the government for a host of financial transactions as well as social schemes. However, the involvement of third-party agencies in collection of Aadhaar data has also left a lot of people worried over the safety and security of their personal information and biometric data.
UIDAI, however, says that there is no need to worry as protection of an individual and safeguarding his/her information is inherent in the design of the UID project. UIDAI also has the obligation to ensure the security and confidentiality of the data collected. There are security and storage protocols in place. However, for those who are still worried, there is a procedure of locking one’s biometrics which ensures privacy and confidentiality of a resident’s biometric data.
How to lock biometric data
With a view to ensure privacy and confidentiality of the biometric data associated with Aadhaar, the UIDAI has provided Aadhaar holders a mechanism to lock the biometric information and prevent any misuse. The procedure for doing this is very simple.
On the UIDAI site, click on the Lock/Unlock Biometrics link under Aadhaar Services. This will take you to http://resident.uidai.gov.in/biometric-lock. On this page, you have to provide your Aadhaar number along with the security code. You will be sent an OTP to your registered mobile number. Use this OTP to login and enter another security key to lock the biometrics. Any resident with valid Aadhaar should be able to use the service. Once locked, the Aadhaar-linked fingerprints and iris data will become inaccessible.
“After locking the biometrics, if a UID is used for invoking any of the authentication services using a biometric modality (Fingerprint/Iris), a specific error code ‘330’ indicating ‘biometrics are locked’ will be generated. This ensures that the biometrics cannot be used for authentications, thus preventing potential misuse. If you wish to authenticate yourself using biometrics after you enable Biometric Locking, you will have to either temporarily unlock it or disable it. The procedure to unlock or disable locking is similar to locking your biometrics. The fact that your biometrics are safe and cannot be used by anyone for any purposes without your explicit permission will further boost people’s confidence in Aadhaar,” says Adhil Shetty, CEO, BankBazaar.com
Source : Financial Express
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