Aadhaar Virtual ID: How To Use UIDAI’s New Damage Control Measure

On Wednesday, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) announced the introduction of Virtual IDs or VIDs – the latest of its damage control measures post reports of a data breach in the Aadhaar database emerging last week.

On Thursday morning, a tweet by UIDAI lent some clarity to what these Virtual IDs are expected to do. But we bet you’ve still got a thousand questions about it. So let’s get to answering them.

All About the New ID From UID

• UIDAI will implement the VID service by 1 March 2018.
• Your Virtual ID will be a 16-digit, random system-generated number which can be used for authentication instead of your original Aadhaar number.
• Your Virtual ID is linked with only YOUR Aadhaar number. At any point in time, there will only be one active and valid Virtual ID for any Aadhaar number.
• If you’re not comfortable sharing your Aadhaar number with private agencies, services and apps (for example, mobile wallets like PayTM), you can generate a Virtual ID from the UIDAI website, mAadhaar mobile app or Aadhaar enrolment centres.
• After that, when you share your VID with the requisite agencies, they will only be able to see limited details of yours. For verification purposes, only name, address and photograph will be shared by UIDAI.
• You can generate any number of new Virtual IDs with your Aadhaar number. But the moment you generate a new VID, the old one will get cancelled and become invalid.
• An Aadhaar cardholder can use their VID in lieu of the Aadhaar number whenever authentication or KYC services are performed.
• All authentication service providers have to complete implementation of VID processes in their systems by 1 June 2018.
• Disclaimer: Only Aadhaar cardholders can generate a Virtual ID.

FAQs on the New Virtual IDs

Timely Move or Too Late?

Former UIDAI Chairman and Aadhaar architect Nandan Nilekani has hailed the move to introduce Virtual IDs, while also claiming that an “orchestrated campaign” is underway to malign Aadhaar.

Nilekani was also quoted as saying, “This was an idea which we contemplated in 2010 but it was a little ahead of its time then.”

But the party under whose reign the UIDAI was set up thinks that the new security feature has come too late, after significant damage has been done. Congress veteran P Chidambaram likened it to “locking the stable after horses have bolted.”

Damage Control After Data Breach

The UIDAI’s had a busy January so far. Four days into the new year, an investigation by The Tribune showed that admin access to the Aadhaar database was being sold for as little as 500 rupees. Hours later, The Quint reported that any admin could, without a single check, add anyone else as an admin.

The UIDAI’s been firefighting ever since. First, they filed an FIR naming The Tribune and its reporter Rachna Khaira. Then, they announced a security upgrade – a new system in which access needs to be authenticated by the fingerprint of the Aadhaar holder and the data available will be restricted to that person. Unrestricted access given thus far was revoked for everyone, according to a report in The Economic Times.

And now, the latest damage control measure – a Virtual ID or VID.

Can the introduction of these Virtual IDs answer the concerns raised by the data breach and the security loopholes it exposed? And is it a security measure that has come too late in the day for the security of your Aadhaar data?