UIDAI to Soon Announce Virtual ID, a Two-Layer Safety Measure to Improve Aadhaar Privacy

Aadhaar-body UIDAI today announced a new two-layer key system to strengthen the security of Aadhaar holders. UIDAI has implemented a new Virtual ID method which would do away the need of sharing your 12-digit Aadhaar number for verification purposes. Under the newly introduced system, an Aadhaar holder will be soon given the choice of not sharing their Aadhaar ID during the authentication process.

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Aadhaar holders can generate a random 16-digit Virtual ID every time which can be used to authenticate at authorised agencies like banks and telecom service providers.

“Virtual ID will be a temporary, revocable 16 digit random number mapped with the Aadhaar number. It is not possible to derive Aadhaar number from Virtual ID,” the UIDAI said in a circle it issued earlier today.

While the Virtual ID will be generated at the user’s end; At the agency end, the UIDAI has come up with a new concept of ‘Limited KYC (Know Your Customer)’ which provides an “agency-specific unique UID token to eliminate agencies storing Aadhaar numbers while still enabling their own paperless KYC”.

Recently, UIDAI was under tremendous pressure, thanks to an Aadhaar-data leak claim at just Rs 500 from the Tribune newspaper. The circular also read that Aadhaar ID holders and agencies have to wait until March 1 as the body will release necessary applications for the implementation. “And by June 1, all agencies would have to fully migrate to the new system,” said UIDAI in the released circular.