How to Lock/Unlock Aadhar Biometric Data Online – Why is it Important?

Aadhar has gained immense popularity and is a document that every Indian citizen needs to have these days. Although it is not mandatory, but a lot of services are using Aadhar card authentication or as a proof or ID and address. This has also led to getting a lot of processes done much faster. However, with the rise in facilities offered by the Aadhar, and the number of people holding the Aadhar have increased – there is also a risk of misuse for the same. And thus it becomes important to lock the Aadhar Biometric Data.

At the time of enrolment, your retinal scan data along with your fingerprints are recorded, while issuing you the Aadhar. This is your biometric data being collected. The biometric data can be used for the Aadhar card verification. However did you know that Aadhar card – official website UIDAI.gov.in allows you to lock your biometric data in order to safeguard against any misuse of Aadhar? Yes, you can lock/ unlock the Aadhar biometric data online, anytime. See how… and be safe!

Lock- Unlock Aadhar Biometric Data Online

How to Lock/Unlock Aadhar Biometric Data?

Locking and unlocking the Aadhar Biometric Data is a great step towards UIDAI’s continued efforts to restrict the misuse of Aadhar data and ensuring people do not have to face unnecessary hassles due to the same. As a step towards the same initiative, recently the UIDAI issued notices and cracked down on FAKE Aadhar Card websites and Apps which used to collect Aadhar Card data of visitors and ask for various personal information. UIDAI keeps a regular vigil on such websites and has been encouraging people to ONLY share their Aadhar information with authorised agencies and ONLY use the Official Website UIDAI.gov.in to carry out any Aadhar related process like making corrections or updating the Aadhar data, downloading eAadhar etc.

Here are the simple steps below to lock/ unlock the Aadhar biometric data on the OFFICIAL UIDAI website:

IMPORTANT:

For the process described below, you will need 2 things:

• Registered Mobile Number
• If your number is not registered, click here to know how to add mobile number to Aadhar
• 12 Digit Aadhar Number
• If you do not know your Aadhar Number, click here to see how to find your Aadhar Number

Step 1: Visit the UIDAI Portal

• First and foremost, you need to visit the official portal of UIDAI for locking and unlocking the Aadhar card biometrics data – www.uidai.gov.in and click on the Lock/Unlock Biometrics Option as seen in the image below:

• Alternatively, Click here to go directly to the Lock/Unlock page on the site or simply copy and paste the following URL address in your browser https://resident.uidai.net.in/biometric-lock

Step 2: Enter Your Details to Start the Biometric Lock/Unlock process

• Once on the Lock/Unlock Page, a form will be in front of you that has to be filled. You will be asked to enter your 12 digit Aadhar number along with the security code – the Number you will see in the image box above the field – also called Captcha.

• Enter these details correctly and click on “Generate OTP”.

Step 3: Enter the OTP (One Time Password) and Verify

• You will now receive a one-time password on the mobile number that is registered with the UIDAI. Enter this password carefully on the same form and click on “Verify”.

Step 4: Select Enable/ Disable Biometric Locking

• As soon as you click Verify, you will be able to click on “enable biometric locking” – If you have not Locked the Biometric before.

• Click the tick-box to enable biometric locking option and click on Enable.

• Also, if you have already locked the data before, then you can disable the biometric lock and use the data, then un-tick the Enable Biometric Locking option and click Disable.

That’s it – In 4 Simple Steps, you have now Locked / Unlocked your Biometric Aadhar Data.

Why is it important to Lock/Unlock Aadhar Biometric Data?

There have been a few cases where people have reported their Aadhar biometric authentication being misused. For example, people who haven’t used their Aadhar for quite some time received an email from UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) which stated that their data has been accessed via biometric authentication. The situation is thus alarming and something has to be done to prevent the misuse of the Aadhar biometric data.

This is one solution to curb this problem by locking the biometric information stored in the UIDAI servers. Locking the Aadhar biometric data implies that no one would be able to access your biometric data. However, if you need to use your biometric data, you can easily unlock it through the same process described above. The data can be locked again as well.

This will not hamper your using or validating any verification process by your own thumb/finger print for KYC or any other purposes as in such cases the biometric data will be used automatically. This is because you, as a user have yourself authenticated it’s use by your own print.

You can thus lock/ unlock Aadhar biometric data online to use your data along with keeping it safe. Feel free to ask any queries or doubts.