UIDAI’s facial recognition-based authentication for Aadhaar user

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) announced the addition of facial recognition-based authentication for Aadhaar users. This is especially for those with problems with other forms of biometric verification like fingerprint and iris. The new feature will be launched by July 1.

"This will help the elderly or others facing issues with fingerprint authentication," Ajay Bhushan Pandey, CEO UIDAI, said. The photo of the face of the resident can also be leveraged to verify the identity.

Aadhaar card-holders can also generate virtual IDs from March and use them for various purposes, including SMI verification, instead of sharing their actual 12-digit biometric code that's been hit by privacy and data breach concerns, the UIDAI said on January 10.

The UIDAI that runs the government's Aadhaar programme also introduced a limited 'Know Your Customer' (KYC) scheme under which only need-based details of a user will be provided to an authorised agency providing a particular service, say, a telco.

The virtual ID facility will start from March 1 and authentication agencies will be required to start implementing the plan by March-end. From June 1, 2018, it will be compulsory for authentication agencies to accept virtual IDs. Agencies that do not migrate to the new system will face financial disincentives.