The organization that issues Aadhaar cards, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on Monday said that it is essential to get citizens' informed consent before doing Aadhaar authentication. Before doing Aadhaar authentications, entities must obtain residents' consent in writing or electronically.
The Aadhaar-issuing authority has requested the Requesting Entities (REs), who conduct online authentications, to make sure that residents understand the sort of data being gathered and the purpose of Aadhaar authentications in its revised guidelines for Requesting Entities (REs).
Furthermore, it has been emphasized that the Aadhaar Regulations only permit records of authentication transactions, including the consent obtained, to be stored for the span of time provided. According to the Aadhaar Act and its rules, such logs are likewise deleted when the specified amount of time has passed.
It's important to note that REs shouldn't usually keep Aadhaar in either physical or electronic form without masking or redacting the initial 8 digits. The UIDAI has advised REs to only keep an Aadhaar number if they have permission to do so.
What do REs do?
Residents can obtain Aadhaar authentication services from requesting entities, which are also accountable for providing the Central Identities Data Repository with the Aadhaar number and demographic/biometric OTP data for authentication. In its announcement, UIDAI stressed that REs should treat citizens respectfully and reassure them of the security and confidentiality of their Aadhaar numbers.
The Authority has also advised REs to alert the UIDAI right once they see any suspicious behavior related to authentications, such as possible resident impersonation or any breach with or fraud by any authentication operator.
Aadhaar Update
The UIDAI provided a resident-friendly facility earlier this month for the convenience of residents who desire to update their address in their Aadhaar online. Aadhaar holders may now update their address online with the Head of Family's (HoF) permission. The relative(s) of a resident who doesn't have supporting papers in their own name to change the address in their Aadhaar will benefit greatly from this, such as children, spouse, parents, etc.
