UIDAI Introduces AI-Based Fingerprint Authentication Feature for Aadhaar

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has rolled out a new security mechanism for Aadhaar-based fingerprint authentication and faster detection of identity theft attempts, an official statement said on Monday.

The artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) based security mechanism that was developed in-house now uses a “combination of finger minutia and finger image” to check the liveness of the fingerprint captured digital.

UIDAI announced in a statement the new security mechanism for strong Aadhaar authentication based on fingerprints, and said that “it makes Aadhaar authentication transactions even more robust and secure”.

“The new two-factor/layered authentication adds additional checks to validate the authenticity (vividness) of the fingerprint to further reduce the risk of spoofing attempts,” the statement added.

The development is expected to be of immense use in segments such as banking and finance, telecommunications and government sectors. This will strengthen the payment system enabled by Aadhaar and curb malicious attempts by unscrupulous elements, thereby benefiting the “bottom of the pyramid”.

“The new security mechanism for Aadhaar-based fingerprint authentication is now fully functional. The deployment and migration took place after months of discussion and onboarding by UIDAI of its partners and user agencies,” adds the press release.

Constant engagement and due diligence by the UIDAI with Authentication User Agencies (AUAs) has been carried out to inform them (AUAs/Sub-AUAs) of the benefits of the new system.

AUA is an entity engaged in providing Aadhaar-enabled services to 12-digit identification holders using Authentication Service Agency Facilitated Authentication. Sub-AUAs are agencies that use Aadhaar authentication to activate their services through an existing requesting entity.

UIDAI head office and regional offices are in contact with all entities to enable any user agency (which may not yet have migrated) to switch to the new secure authentication mode, at the earliest. .

The adoption of Aadhaar-based authentication transactions has seen an upward trend as it has proven to be an enabler to avail several social benefits and services.

“By the end of December 2022, a cumulative number of Aadhaar authentication transactions had exceeded 88.29 billion and recorded a daily transaction average of 70 million. The majority of them are fingerprint-based authentications, indicative of its use and usefulness in daily life,” the statement added.

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