Aadhaar biometric data can be misused to make fraudulent financial transactions, procure mobile and internet connections and even perform identity theft. Recent reports alleging that the personal information of millions of Indians was being sold on the dark web, that included Aadhaar numbers further necessitate the need for citizens to secure their biometric data.
To prevent the misuse of Adhaar-enabled payment services (AEPS) or your biometric information by threat actors, citizens can lock their biometric data, until the time they are required to carry out authentication for legitimate purposes.
Locking the Aadhaar Biometrics lets the Aadhar cardholder safeguard their personal and biometric information, including fingerprints, iris scans, and facial recognition data.
Locking biometric data prevents any unauthorised access to the bank accounts linked to that Aadhar card or misuse of the data. It is important to note that once you lock your biometrics, you cannot use them for Aadhaar authentication unless it is unlocked.
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Do note that even when biometric data is locked using the UIDAI website, Aadhaar can be verified using an OTP sent to the citizens registered mobile number.
