Aadhar system

Why in news?

• The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which issues Aadhaar cards to the citizens, has come out with certain updates in the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.
• The new UIDAI updates would allow the Aadhaar cardholders to make changes and rectify mistakes in their Aadhaar cards online from their homes.

About Aadhar:

• Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique identity number that can be obtained voluntarily by residents or passport holders of India, based on their biometric and demographic data.
• The data is collected by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), an authority established in January 2009 and made a statutory body following the provisions of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, benefits and services) Act, 2016.
• Aadhaar is the world's largest biometric ID system.
• It is considered a proof of residence and not a proof of citizenship and Aadhaar does not itself grant any rights to domicile in India

About UIDAI

• The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is a statutory authority established under the provisions of the Aadhaar Act, 2016.
• Under ministry of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
• UIDAI was created with the objective to issue Unique Identification numbers (UID), named as "Aadhaar", to all residents of India.

Under the Aadhaar Act UIDAI is responsible for:

• Aadhaar enrolment and authentication.
• Operation and management of all stages of Aadhaar life cycle.
• Developing the procedure and system for issuing Aadhaar numbers and perform authentication.
• To ensure the security of identity information and authentication records of individuals.

Aadhaar Authentication:

• It is a process in which:
  • Aadhaar number along with the demographic information or biometric information of a Aadhaar number holder is submitted to the Central Identities Data Repository (CIDR) for its verification and
  • CIDR verifies the correctness on the basis of the information available with it.(CIDR is regulated by UIDAI).
• The purpose of Aadhaar Authentication is to provide a digital, online identity platform so that the identity of Aadhaar number holders can be validated instantly anytime, anywhere.
  • UIDAI offers Aadhaar-based authentication as a service that can be availed by requesting entities.
  • Requesting entities can be either government or private entities.
  • This service from UIDAI can be utilized by the requesting entities to authenticate the identity of their customers or employees or other associates before providing them access to their consumer services or subsidies or other benefits.

Add-Ons:

• The Aadhaar number or the authentication thereof shall not confer any right of citizenship to the holder.
• While certain types of information such as birth date and gender will remain unchanged, other demographic details may undergo changes with time.

Prelims Question

Consider the following statements:
1.Aadhar can be used as a proof of residence.
2.Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) which manages Aadhaar is a statutory body.
Which among the above statements is/are correct?
(a)1 only 
(b)2 only 
(c)Both 1 and 2
(d)Neither 1 nor 2

Answer to prelims question