The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has unveiled a redesigned Aadhaar app for smartphones that scans a person’s face to substantiate their identification. According to the UIDAI the brand new app is designed to allow digital verification by way of a QR code and the digicam on a person’s smartphone, with out the necessity to submit photocopies of a person’s Aadhaar card. The app might ultimately pace up the method of identification verification, however considerations round the usage of biometrics for authentication proceed to linger.
UIDAI Conducts Testing of Revamped Aadhaar App
The new app was showcased at Aadhaar Samvaad, the stakeholder assembly with ecosystem companions, that was held in Delhi on Tuesday. At the occasion, the UIDAI demonstrated the revamped Aadhaar app, which integrates its Aadhaar Face Authentication system that scans a person’s face to substantiate their identification.
3/ With the brand new Aadhaar app, customers not have to get their Aadhaar scanned or photocopied.
❌ No extra scanned & printed copies pic.twitter.com/kAaP3vp3cQ— Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) April 8, 2025
According to the UIDAI, the brand new Aadhaar app permits customers with an Aadhaar card to authenticate themselves with out carrying a bodily model of the cardboard, or sharing photocopies of the doc with a service supplier. Once the app is ready up on a person’s smartphone, it may be used to securely confirm their identification and no particulars are shared with the supplier.
A video showcasing the capabilities of the brand new Aadhaar app sheds some gentle on the authentication course of. When introduced with a QR code or an utility that requests identification verification, the Aadhaar app will immediate customers to enter their safety PIN to unlock the app and start authentication.
Users will then be introduced with a masked, digital model of their Aadhaar card within the app. They can scan a QR code, which reveals the data (for e.g. title, date of start, and masked cell quantity) requested by the service supplier, which could be a lodge reception desk or a store.
If a person chooses to go forward with the authentication course of, the app will immediate them to place their face in a circle in the midst of the display screen. The app requires a person to blink as a way to full the authentication course of, and a affirmation message is displayed to tell the person that their identification has been verified.
While the redesigned Aadhaar app would possibly streamline the authentication course of and reduce down on the usage of bodily paperwork, consultants have warned in regards to the safety of person’s biometric data on centralised servers. Facial biometrics, fingerprints, and iris scans are immutable and can’t be modified — in contrast to passwords and safety codes — and leaks might put enrolled customers prone to identification theft and different types of misuse.
The UIDAI says that the redesigned Aadhaar app will defend customers towards forgery (or enhancing) and knowledge is barely shared with a person’s consent, in accordance with the UIDAI. It has been launched to a small group of testers and shall be rolled out extensively sooner or later, after suggestions is acquired from testers and ecosystem companions.
