New Delhi, March 18 (NationPress) The Aadhaar initiative has established itself as the world’s most extensive biometric identity system, boasting approximately 134 crore active users and surpassing 17,000 crore authentication transactions to date, as reported to Parliament on Wednesday.

Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Jitin Prasada, informed the Lok Sabha in a written response that the Aadhaar framework, overseen by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), is crucial for facilitating identity verification in service delivery.

The UIDAI offers Aadhaar authentication services to authorized bodies, enabling the verification of individuals' identities through one-time passwords (OTPs), biometric data such as fingerprints, iris scans, facial recognition, or demographic information.

Prasada noted that Aadhaar’s face authentication, utilized by authorized agencies, employs artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to ensure precise verification.

According to the minister, any organization wishing to utilize Aadhaar authentication services must register as Authentication User Agencies (AUA) or KYC User Agencies (KUA), adhering to the stipulations of the Aadhaar Act.

On the topic of data access and retention, Prasada stated that authentication records are preserved for a period of two years by AUAs and KUAs, and these can be accessed by Aadhaar holders or utilized for handling grievances. Following this period, the logs are archived for five years before being erased.

He emphasized that the Aadhaar system is designed with robust privacy protections, ensuring that demographic data remains encrypted both during storage and transmission, along with strict legal limitations on its collection, retention, and use.

The minister also pointed out that the UIDAI adheres to a three-tier auditing system, which includes self-assessments, annual information security evaluations, and governance, risk, compliance, and privacy (GRCP) audits to maintain system integrity.

Moreover, detailed standard operating procedures necessitate obtaining informed consent from users, restricting the use of authentication to specified purposes, ensuring safe data storage, utilizing certified devices, and prohibiting the retention of biometric information by organizations.

The government has assured that Aadhaar data is securely stored and processed within India, with measures in place to avert any violations of these requirements.