On 18 March 2026, the government informed Parliament that Aadhaar has become the world’s largest biometric identity system, with nearly 134 crore active users. Over 17,000 crore authentication transactions have been completed so far, highlighting its massive scale and widespread usage across India.
Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Jitin Prasada, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha, stated that the Aadhaar ecosystem—managed by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)—plays a crucial role in enabling seamless identity verification for various services.
Key Features of Aadhaar System
Aadhaar authentication allows identity verification through:
- OTP-based authentication
- Biometric methods (fingerprint, iris, face recognition)
- Demographic details
Notably, face authentication powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) is being increasingly used for accurate and secure verification.
Data Security & Privacy Measures
The government emphasized strong privacy safeguards in the Aadhaar ecosystem:
- Data is encrypted both at rest and during transmission
- Authentication logs are stored for 2 years, then archived for 5 years before deletion
- Aadhaar data is stored within India only
- Strict legal provisions regulate data usage and access
Regulatory Framework
Entities using Aadhaar services must be registered as:
- Authentication User Agencies (AUA)
- KYC User Agencies (KUA)
UIDAI also follows a three-tier audit system, including security and compliance audits, to ensure system integrity.
