India is widening the use of Aadhaar, the world’s largest digital identity system, through a new app and expanded offline verification support. While officials describe the move as consent-based and user-friendly, civil liberties groups say deeper security and privacy risks remain unresolved.
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) announced the new Aadhaar app in late January. It allows users to share limited identity details, such as confirming they are above a certain age instead of revealing their full date of birth. The app supports verification across hotels, housing societies, workplaces, platforms, and payment devices. The existing mAadhaar app will continue to operate for now.
UIDAI is also expanding Aadhaar’s integration into mobile wallets. It plans to enable support on Google Wallet and is in discussions for Apple Wallet, alongside existing integration with Samsung Wallet.
Offline verification allows identity checks without real-time access to the central Aadhaar database. Officials say this reduces risks linked to photocopies and screenshots of Aadhaar documents, which are often stored without oversight. The Ahmedabad City Crime Branch has already integrated Aadhaar-based offline verification with its PATHIK guest-monitoring platform.
App download data indicates rapid adoption. Combined monthly installs of Aadhaar-related apps rose from nearly 2 million in October to about 9 million in December. Aadhaar has issued over 1.4 billion identity numbers and processes around 2.5 billion authentication transactions each month.
However, critics question the timing and safeguards. Raman Jit Singh Chima of Access Now said the expansion raises concerns while India’s Data Protection Board is yet to be fully established. “The fact that this has gone ahead at this point of time seems to indicate a preference to continue the expansion of the use of Aadhaar, even if it is unclear in terms of the further risks that it might pose to the system, as well as to the data of Indians,” he said.
Prasanth Sugathan of SFLC.in pointed to ongoing issues such as database inaccuracies and weak grievance mechanisms. Campaigners from Rethink Aadhaar warned of “Aadhaar creep,” arguing that expanded private-sector use may conflict with a 2018 Supreme Court ruling.
As Aadhaar moves deeper into daily life, debate over consent, safeguards, and long-term oversight continues.
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