The Unique Identification Authority of India has announced that it will be ruling out a face recognition feature as an additional mode of authentication from September 15. The Aadhaar card facial recognition feature essentially means that the users will have their picture clicked when using the aadhaar card for eKYC. The feature will not replace the fingerprint or iris verification but is an additional feature. Telecom companies and banks will save the photos clicked on spot and send for verification to the database where the pictures are already saved with the UIDAI.
The new feature of the facial recognition is not mandatory. This feature has come only as an additional layer of security for the citizens. There were people (basically the senior citizens and the section of manual labour class) having finger print marks little worn out. The UIDAI faced difficulty in authenticating their finger marks. So as a solution to this issue, UIDAI has come up with this idea that along with the finger print we have added face recognition to make the authentication successful,” said the CEO of the UIDAI, Ajay Bhushan in an interview with India Today.
An official circular has been sent to all the Authentication User Agencies, Authentication Service Agencies and certified biometric device providers by the authority and have been asked to start the practice from September 15.
Also Read: Aadhaar authentication: UIDAI adds security layer, makes facial recognition a must
Earlier UIDAI had said, any negligence or oversight in the process would be termed as a criminal offense by authentication agencies and will be subjected to a punishment of imprisonment and fine under section 42 and 43 of Aadhaar Act 2016.
