Aadhaar card: Aadhaar card has become a very important document for all of us in today’s digital age. From opening a bank account to availing government schemes, Aadhaar is used everywhere. In such a situation its security becomes very important.
Many people do not understand the difference between ‘Aadhaar Number Lock’ and ‘Biometric Lock’ found in Aadhaar card. Both these features provide security in different ways, so that your data cannot be misused.
What is Aadhaar Number Lock and its benefits
- Full Number Lock: When you lock your Aadhaar number, no one can verify your identity with your main 12-digit Aadhaar number.
- Use of Virtual ID (VID): After the number is locked you have to use ‘Virtual ID’ for authentication, which is completely secure.
- Protection from Fraud: This prevents any stranger from using your Aadhaar number to do any kind of fraud or cheating.
- Easy to unlock: Whenever you want to use the Aadhaar number, you can easily unlock it through the OTP sent to your registered mobile number.
What is a biometric lock and how does it work?
- Security of Biometric Data: Biometric Lock completely locks your fingerprint (fingerprint), iris (eyeball) and face scanning data.
- Stop Abuse: Once this feature is activated, no one can use your biometric data to withdraw money from the bank or get a new SIM card.
- The number will continue: Your Aadhaar number continues to work even after applying a biometric lock, only your fingerprint or eye-print verification stops.
The main difference between both the security features
- Scope of Security: Locking an Aadhaar number temporarily disables the entire main Aadhaar number, while Biometric locking locks only your physical marks (fingerprint and iris).
- OTP based work: Aadhaar number and OTP based work continues despite biometric lock.
- Requirement of VID: Aadhaar number lock requires Virtual ID (VID) for verification, while biometric lock does not.
An easy way to activate these features
You can easily turn these two features on or off at home by downloading the mAadhaar app on your smartphone. Apart from this, you can also access this facility in the ‘My Aadhaar’ section of the UIDAI official website. This process requires your Aadhaar linked mobile number to be active so that the OTP can be received.