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The central government today launched a new Aadhaar verification app, which aims to make verification as simple as making UPI payment while ensuring stronger privacy, protecting data from tampering and forgery or editing.
Union Information and Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, while unveiling the app, said Aadhaar is the ‘aadhaar’ of many initiatives and is the core of DPIs (Digital Public Infrastructure). The minister said the new Aadhaar app is in the beta testing phase currently.
In his address, Vaishnaw underlined how AI is like a new industrial revolution, and asked the stakeholders to share ideas on how to integrate AI with DPIs to drive the growth further. "All this, while preserving the privacy," he added.
The minister said the central government has a "primary focus" on improving the ease of living further. Citing the example of Aadhaar face authentication, the Union minister said face ID authentication via the mobile app (requires) no physical card, or no photocopies. "Now with just a tap, users can share only the necessary data, giving them complete control over their personal information. With the new Aadhaar app, users no longer need to get their Aadhaar scanned or photocopied," he said via X.
The Aadhaar app aims to empower Aadhaar number holders to share only the necessary data, while availing services of their choice. It will give Aadhaar number holders complete control over their personal information and allow digital verification and exchange via a requesting application or by scanning a QR code.
"A major innovation in the app is the integration of Aadhaar Face Authentication, which is witnessing rapid adoption across sectors and has clocked over 15 crore transactions per month," the statement says.
The app is currently released to early adopters or for a small group of users. Based on the feedback received from users and ecosystem partners, UIDAI will soon make it accessible to all.
S Krishnan, secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) said Aadhaar is allowing inclusion and aiding economic growth, and that it preserves privacy and authenticates identity.
Saurabh Garg, Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), said UIDAI has enabled the expansion of Aadhaar usage, and underlined the rapid growth of Aadhaar authentications. Neelkanth Mishra , Chairman UIDAI spoke about Aadhaar's role in the expansion of DPIs. UIDAI and Aadhaar have achieved a lot and there is a lot to do, he added.
UIDAI CEO Bhuvnesh Kumar said Aadhaar Face authentication is becoming the hallmark of the authentication landscape.
Today was the third episode of the Aadhaar Samvaad series. At Bengaluru in November 2024, UIDAI focused on industries and technologies involved in the digital identity space, the second edition, in January 2025 at Mumbai, focused on the FinTech sector, bringing together BFSI, fintech and Telecom sectors. In this edition in Delhi, the focus theme was innovation, inclusion and integration, and how Aadhaar can be of more help in strengthening governance and bring more benefits to people.
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