While the Aadhaar card is an important document to possess in India, lately there have been concerns among Indians about how freely they can share the photocopies. UIDAI had issued instructions on practising prudence when it comes to sharing our Aadhaar card copies.
“Unlicensed private entities like hotels or film halls are not permitted to collect or keep copies of Aadhaar card. It is an offence under the Aadhaar Act 2016. If a private entity demands to see your Aadhaar card or seeks a photocopy of your Aadhaar card, please verify that they have valid User License from the UIDAI,” a release by UIDAI said.
Security concerns
While privacy concerns are still under debate, a few cases have exhibited that fraudsters can find ways to access your biometrics through your Aadhaar card.
The AePS is a facility that helps an Aadhaar-linked account-holder to withdraw money through biometric authentication. Last year, a man from Lucknow lost 30k after his fingerprints were cloned by fraudsters and used to make unauthorised transactions.
In fact, in some states such as Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu even government welfare funds were allegedly stolen using the Aadhaar-enabled Payment System (AePS).
In fact, Telangana police had posted on social media that if you lose your money via AePS, you must “immediately disable your biometric link from your Aadhaar.”
Identity theft to conduct criminal activities and fraud is another major concern which calls for prudent sharing of Aadhaar.
What is Masked Aadhaar and how do you get it?
According to UIDAI, “Mask Aadhaar option allows you to mask your Aadhaar number in your downloaded e-Aadhaar. Masked Aadhaar number implies replacing of first 8 digits of Aadhaar number with some characters like “xxxx-xxxx” while only last 4 digits of the Aadhaar Number are visible.”
Follow these steps to get a masked Aadhaar:
1. Log on to myaadhaar.uidai.gov.in using your Aadhaar number. Click on ‘Send OTP'. You will receive the OTP on you’re the mobile number linked with your. Enter it on the required field and login.
2. Under the ‘Services’ menu, click on ‘Download Aadhaar’.
3. You will find the masked Aadhaar option under the ‘Review your Demographics Data’ section. Select it and click on ‘Download'.
4. Your masked Aadhaar will be downloaded in PDF format. It will be a password-protected document. To open it, enter the first four letters (uppercase) of your name (as in Aadhaar) and year of birth in YYYY format.
5. If you are using a public computer, delete the copy on the device before leaving.