UIDAI expands Aadhaar into offline private verification with new app amid privacy concerns

Key facts

• Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) launched a new Aadhaar app and offline verification framework in late January.
• The app allows selective data sharing, such as confirming age without revealing full date of birth, to services like hotels, housing societies, workplaces, and payment devices.
• Ahmedabad City Crime Branch became the first police unit in India to integrate Aadhaar-based offline verification with its guest-monitoring platform PATHIK for hotels and guest accommodations.
• UIDAI is integrating Aadhaar with Google Wallet and discussing similar integration with Apple Wallet, in addition to existing support on Samsung Wallet.
• The new Aadhaar app overtook the older mAadhaar app in monthly downloads, with combined installs rising from nearly 2 million in October to nearly 9 million in December.
• Aadhaar has issued over 1.4 billion identity numbers and handles about 2.5 billion authentication transactions monthly.
• Civil liberties groups warn the expansion risks reintroducing private-sector Aadhaar use barred by a 2018 Supreme Court judgment and raises concerns over data protection and consent.