New Delhi: The biometric authentication of Aadhaar numbers has been made more robust and secure by using an artificial intelligence and machine learning mechanism developed by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and the electronics and IT ministry, according to an official statement.
The new mechanism uses “a combination of both finger minutia and finger image to check the liveness of the finger print captured”, the statement said on Friday. “This is making Aadhaar authentication transactions even more robust and secure.”
“The move will be of immense use in segments including banking and financials, telecom and government sectors,” it said. “It shall also benefit bottom of the pyramid as it will further strengthen the Aadhaar enabled payment system and curb malicious attempts by unscrupulous elements.”
Aadhaar is a 12-digit number that links to the biometric and iris data of an individual, creating a unique identity. This identity is linked to the person’s bank details, phone number, government schemes and other financial services.
“By the end of December 2022, cumulative number of Aadhaar authentication transactions had crossed 88.29 billion and clocking an average per day transactions of 70 million,” the statement said. “A majority of them are fingerprint-based authentications, indicative of its usage and utility in daily lives.”
In March last year, UIDAI had informed Parliament that attempted unauthorized access to the authentication system using a gummy finger of an authorized operator or personnel had seen a steep rise in financial transactions. In 2019-22, 4,088 such unique counts equalling 13,864 transactions amounting to around ₹10 crore were found.
“In all such cases, FIR have been lodged for unauthorized authentication cases. UIDAI has a strong and rigorous process of identifying such types of cases and ensuring that these are reported to the concerned Law Enforcement Agencies for necessary action,” it had said.
The enhanced security mechanism is fully functional, Friday’s statement said.
Out of the 1.3 billion people in the country, only 95 million are yet to be registered for Aadhaar, the central government informed Parliament on in August last year. Of these, 83 million are estimated to be children between the ages of 0-5 years. Aadhaar numbers are necessary to avail several of the government’s welfare schemes and services, but there have been periodic concerns over security issues.
NS Nappinai, a Supreme Court lawyer and founder of Cybersaathi, said the use of technology to ensure benefits to stakeholders with better security is always a welcome move. “While we forge ahead in multiple use of AI and other tech enabled processes, it’s equally important if not more so to ensure that the checks and balances for such usage is captured expeditiously through laws and regulations,” she said. “There is urgent and immediate need for ring fencing and protecting against misuse or abuse or even to proactively provide protective measures through laws for AI and use of biometrics.”