How to ensure that your Aadhaar is not being misused
The Centre has mandated Aadhaar for authentication to avail a lot of services even as many flagged concerns over privacy and misuse of Aadhaar. If you are worried about Aadhaar being misused, you can now track where and when your unique identity was used for authentication. Aadhaar regulatory body, Unique Identification Authority of India's website has a provision for checking the same. Here's how.
All about Aadhaar
Aadhaar is a national identity for Indian citizens, a 12-digit Unique Identity Number, issued by the UIDAI. It is issued based on citizens' biometric, demographic data by conducting retina and fingerprint scans. Lately, the government has made Aadhaar linkage mandatory for bank accounts, PAN cards, mobile numbers, pensions, scholarships, LPG connections, Public Provident Fund, National Savings Certificate, Krishi Vikas Patra, etc.
When and where was your Aadhaar used?
As Aadhaar is now mandatory for carrying out several tasks, people need to submit their Unique Identity Number details to many service providers. However, this may increase the risk of their Aadhaar being misused, which is a matter of high concern. So, UIDAI gives an option to people for finding out the history of Aadhaar used over a specified period.
How to retrieve your Aadhaar authentication history?
Aadhaar cardholders can visit UIDAI's official website uidai.gov.in, and select "Aadhaar Authentication History" under the "Aadhaar Services" category. On the next page, users need to provide their 12-digit Aadhaar number, enter the given security code, and click on "Generate OTP". They should enter the OTP received on their registered mobile number (Aadhaar-registered), and click on "Submit" to see the required authentication details.
What data does UIDAI provide to users?
On the UIDAI website, users should choose a certain time period to see all their Aadhaar authentication details displayed in the form of date, time, and the type of Aadhaar authentication requests, etc. However, the website doesn't mention any details about who made the Aadhaar authentication request. In case, users find something suspicious; they can lock Aadhaar information online, which can be unlocked anytime.
Aadhaar linkage deadlines are fast approaching
The deadline for linking Aadhaar is different for each service/document/product. For most services like savings schemes, bank accounts, insurance policies, mutual funds, the deadline was 31 December. For PAN card, it was extended to 31 March; for mobile numbers, it's 6 February. The Centre recently told the Supreme Court that it would extend the deadline for various schemes and services to 31 March.
