You may soon avail government services just sitting at home. Here’s how

What if we say you won’t have to go to ant government office for getting your work done? Yes, this is going to turn into reality soon as Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is planning to get smartphones Aadhar enabled.

A meeting was conducted during which UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey and senior executives of smartphone-makers such as Apple, Samsung, Google, Microsoft and Micromax, and product software think tank iSPIRT, discussed various ways to make this idea possible.

“Nearly 104 crore Indians have Aadhaar and almost 40 crore have smartphones. Every agency requires authentication via Aadhaar. If people don't need to go to any office to authenticate their identity and get government services, and if they are able to do so through their mobile phones, this can be the big gamechanger," Pandey told ET.

He said the response from handset makers was positive and if it sees light of the day, it will change the way people use government services.

So, how will it happen? The chips of Aadhaar-enabled smartphones will be encrypted with a UIDAI key and the handsets will be linked to the Aadhaar server. The key is a security feature to prevent information leakage. The server connection will allow instant fingerprint and iris authentication. Some high-end smartphones already have fingerprint and iris recognition technology embedded in their operating system. The technology bar for putting these features in smartphones is not high - most smartphones can be equipped similarly.

Meanwhile, a Samsung India spokesperson told ET it is the only mobilephone-maker to have already embedded Aadhaar-friendly technology in one of its handsets.

"Galaxy Tab Iris will support government benefit programmes and enable banks and financial institutions to streamline the process of an individual's authentication, regardless of language and literacy barriers,” the spokesperson told ET.

However, one of the queries raised was sending fingerprint and iris data over unsecure networks, which also has privacy issues.
Pandey said the solution was a "registered device".

He also said UIDAI can address other concerns about privacy since the authority has ensured full privacy and security of personal biometric information of 104 crore citizens. He said laptops used for capturing biometric information have an Aadhaar key that encrypts the information, and there has been no leakage of information.