Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Feb 4: The government has deactivated more than 2.5 crore Aadhaar numbers belonging to deceased persons as part of a nationwide effort to prevent identity fraud and misuse of welfare benefits, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Jitin Prasada informed Parliament on Wednesday.
In a statement to the House, Prasada said Aadhaar remains the world’s largest biometric identity system, with around 134 crore active Aadhaar holders. To preserve the accuracy and credibility of this vast database, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has been undertaking a continuous clean-up exercise.
“As part of this nationwide drive to maintain the integrity of the Aadhaar ecosystem, UIDAI has deactivated more than 2.5 crore Aadhaar numbers of deceased persons till date,” the minister said.
He stressed that deactivation after death is crucial to prevent identity theft and the unauthorised use of Aadhaar numbers for accessing government welfare schemes and other services. Prasada also clarified that the state or Union Territory mentioned in an Aadhaar holder’s address may differ from the state or UT where the individual’s death was officially registered.
The minister outlined a range of additional safeguards introduced to minimise the risk of identity fraud and ensure transparent, leak-proof delivery of benefits.
One such measure is the biometric lock and unlock feature, which allows Aadhaar holders to lock their fingerprints and iris data, blocking any unauthorised authentication attempts. UIDAI has also deployed face authentication with a built-in “liveness detection” feature to prevent spoofing and to confirm the physical presence of beneficiaries during transactions.
Further, UIDAI is promoting the use of Aadhaar Secure QR Code, paperless offline e-KYC, e-Aadhaar, and Aadhaar verifiable credentials to enable offline identity verification without sharing sensitive personal data.
Prasada emphasised that UIDAI does not share core biometric information of Aadhaar holders under any circumstances. All entities requesting Aadhaar-based authentication are required to use Aadhaar data vaults, ensuring Aadhaar numbers are stored in encrypted form.
Other ongoing measures include regular database sanitisation, periodic de-duplication, deactivation of Aadhaar numbers linked to deceased individuals, and strict controls on updating demographic details, which are permitted only against documents approved by UIDAI.
The minister also highlighted the launch of a new Aadhaar mobile application that enables Aadhaar holders to securely and seamlessly share verified credentials with Offline Verification Seeking Entities (OVSEs), further strengthening privacy and data security within the Aadhaar ecosystem.