The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has introduced Face Recognition for Aadhaar to help citizens who're encountering issues with other modes of biometric verification such as fingerprint and iris scanning. Ajay Pandey, UIDAI's CEO tweeted this news, confirming the service' launch on July 1, 2018. UIDAI is also expecting that the new face recognition implementation will increase security by adding another layer of protection.
This new feature will work alongside the already existing verification modes and an already Aadhaar holder is not required to revisit an Aadhaar centre for his face verification. The Aadhaar body has been under a lot of pressure in recent times. Firstly, a report from newspaper Tribune said that they could access all the Aadhaar details by paying just Rs 500. Secondly, French security researcher highlighted numerous issues on the Aadhaar mobile app- mAadhaar.
"At the time of Aadhaar enrolment, a photo of the face of the resident is also captured. To provide inclusive authentication, face photo can also be leveraged to verify the identity of an Aadhaar number holder," read a notification released by UIDAI today. Recently, UIDAI also stated that it would implement Virtual ID technology very soon, which removes the need for exposing the 12-digit Aadhaar ID to any merchants.
How does the Face Recognition for Aadhaar work?
The Face Recognition for Aadhaar works in fusion mode with other two methods available, meaning, even after UIDAI taking your face recognition, it requires you to give other details of IRIS or fingerprint.
UIDAI will work with various biometric device providers to integrate face modality into various certified devices, and the body may come with its standalone 'registered device service.'
However, it is still unknown on what devices will be used for this Face Recognition for Aadhaar.
