From QR codes to age verification: What’s different about UIDAI’s new Aadhaar app

The government on Wednesday launched a new Aadhaar mobile application, pitching it as a major upgrade in how India’s digital identity is carried, shared and verified, with an emphasis on privacy, consent and ease of use.

The app has been developed by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

The new Aadhaar app is a mobile application designed for Aadhaar number holders to securely show, share and verify their identity digitally, without the need for physical photocopies or unrestricted data sharing.

UIDAI has positioned the app as “privacy-first”, giving residents greater control over what personal details are shared, with whom, and for what purpose.

Unlike earlier Aadhaar-based processes that often involved sharing a full Aadhaar number or photocopies, the new app enables selective sharing of credentials. Users can share only specific details depending on the requirement.

The app can be used for age verification under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act without sharing any additional data.

Speaking at the launch of the app, the Ministry of Electronics and IT Secretary S Krishnan said the government has amended Swik Rules or the Aadhaar Authentication for Good Governance (Social Welfare, Innovation, Knowledge) Rules, 2020 to enable private entities to provide service by using Aadhaar authentication on secure basis.

"We frequently contend within the ambit of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act is age verification and how age verification will be done. I think we are in a position where, with the Aadhaar app, there is actually a way that age gating can seamlessly apply without oversharing the data," Krishnan said.

The app supports QR-based verification for multiple real-life scenarios.

It allows optional face verification, age verification for cinema ticket bookings, hospital admissions for visitors and attendants, verification of gig workers and service partners among many such use cases.

The app aims to discourage use of paper copies of Aadhaar that are generally used by several entities mainly hotels, government offices for verifying an individual.

According to UIDAI, the app is built around the principles of consent, control and data minimisation.

The app includes functionalities like face verification for proof of presence, biometric lock/unlock in a single click, viewing of authentication history, and a QR-based contact card for easy sharing of contact details.

The app also allows management of up to five Aadhaar profiles on a single device.

In addition to address updates, residents can now update their registered mobile number through the app.

"Mobile number update can be done now on the Aadhaar app without going to a centre. The facility of address update is already available but it has been built into this also...," UIDAI CEO Bhuvnesh Kumar said.

The new app also comes with a contact card that enables users to share their contact with other people instead of sharing paper-based cards.

UIDAI said more update services will be added in future versions.