Aadhaar biometric lock, a lesser-known security feature

TIL Desk/Business/New Delhi/ Long before it brought in an extra firewall for privacy with the proposed virtual IDs, the Aadhaar-issuing authority UIDAI had set in place a ‘biometric lock’ as an additional layer of protection against outside intrusions or breach.

A lesser-known feature, the biometric lock in existing Aadhaar system is aimed at allowing users to safeguard or lock down their biometrics as and when they want.

Aadhaar, which captures an individual’s personal details along with biometrics like fingerprint and iris, has been mandated to be used for authentication of identity with banks and telecom companies, among others.

The authentication for mobile SIM (subscriber identity module) verification, for instance, is done by providing the 12-digit identifier together with biometrics.

The extent of Aadhaar usage can well be gauged from the fact that an average of 4 crore authentications are being done on a daily basis, while over 1,500 authentication have taken place so far. But not many know or perhaps use a feature called the biometric lock that allows a user to seal or lock their biometric information.