Your Aadhar Data Isn’t As Safe As You Think It Is.

When the Aadhar program was launched in 2009, its goal and importance were pretty unclear to the masses. In fact, many presumed it to be just another government program that they have to be involved in.

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But things are different now. Aadhar is a national identification number and eases the tiring KYC process at many platforms at many levels now. The digitally stored biometric and demographic data just speeds things up.

But did you know that the same Aadhar number puts your most personal details at a risk too?

Yes, there are have been instances where a person’s biometric data (photograph and ten fingerprints and two iris scans) have been stolen from the central database and apparently used for identity frauds. People who haven’t used their Aadhaar card for a while have received an email from UIDAI stating that their data has been accessed via biometric authentication.

And well, that is obviously quite alarming!  So, what can be done now? How do we save ourselves from identity thefts?

The manner in which these biometric details are collected on various platforms without any safeguard is what makes it prone to such misuse. And the only option we are left with is by locking our biometric data down that is stored on UIDAI’s servers.

This step involves adding an extra layer of security to ensure that such sensitive data is not mishandled in any way.

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And here’s the process how you can lock or unlock your Aadhar UIDAI biometric details:

• Head to the UIDAI website’s biometric lock page and enter your 12-digit Aadhaar number.
• Enter the Security Code that shows up in the image below your Aadhaar number.
• Click Generate OTP. This will send a one-time password via an SMS to your registered phone number. Enter the received OTP on the same page.
• Click Verify and check Enable biometric locking that appears on the next page.
• Next, click Enable button after checking Enable biometric locking.
• In case you want to disable the lock, uncheck Enable biometric locking and click Disable.

Done!

Do note that locking biometric data means that the person can authenticate Aadhaar based transactions or requests for information only via the OTP sent to their mobile number, and not with their biometric details.