Over 2.5 crore Aadhaar cards of deceased persons deactivated. Here's why
UIDAI has deactivated more than 2.5 crore Aadhaar numbers of deceased persons to prevent misuse of the national identity document. The authority is trying to clean up and maintain the accuracy and integrity of the Aadhaar database in the country.
The Aadhaar card issuing authority, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), has deactivated more than 2.5 crore numbers of deceased persons to prevent misuse of the national identity document, reported news agency PTI, on Wednesday, 4 February, citing Minister of State for Electronics and IT Jitin Prasada.
The minister, in a written response to Parliament on Wednesday, said that the central government launched Aadhaar, the world's largest biometric identity system, which comprises nearly 134 crore active holders.
Prasada said that the clean-up effort aims to maintain the accuracy and integrity of the Aadhaar database in the country.
“As part of a nationwide clean-up effort to maintain the continued accuracy and integrity of the Aadhaar database, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has deactivated more than 2.5 crore Aadhaar numbers of deceased persons till date,” said Jitin Prasada, cited the news agency.
What happens to someone's Aadhaar after death?
Minister of State for Electronics and IT Jitin Prasada, in his response, said that in the event of the death of an Aadhaar card holder, it's important for the authority to deactivate the number to prevent potential identity theft or fraud.
“In case of the death of a person, it is essential that his or her Aadhaar number is deactivated to prevent potential identity fraud, or unauthorised usage of such Aadhaar number for availing welfare benefit,” Prasada said, according to the report.
The minister explained that several measures have been taken to reduce the risk of identity fraud by providing biometric lock and unlock features to prevent unauthorised authentication attempts.
Prasada also said that Aadhaar has “Face Authentication”, which has been deployed with the 'Liveness Detection feature' to prevent spoofing and ensure the physical presence of the holder during transactions.
New Aadhaar App
Mint reported earlier that UIDAI had introduced a new Aadhaar mobile application, which was formally unveiled on 29 January.
The application provides several additional features beyond the existing Aadhaar app, giving users more control over their personal information, streamlining verification and authentication, and simplifying commonly used services such as profile detail updation.
The new Aadhaar app lets users share only selected personal details, without disclosing the full Aadhaar card, addressing the privacy and security concerns of the holders.
Along with this, another major change is that holders can now update the mobile number linked to their Aadhaar directly through the app.