The Aadhaar card is one of the vital documents in India. It is used as an identity proof document and address proof document.

The Aadhaar card contains all details about an individual, like name, date of birth, address, mobile number and email ID, along with the photo of the person. In addition to that, biometrics like fingerprints and iris data are also stored.

As citizens use their Aadhaar card for every required purpose, sometimes, it is misused by fraudsters. In this context, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) shared certain measures to keep Aadhaar cards secure to prevent them from being misused and fraud.

Here is a list of measures to keep your Aadhaar card secure and prevent Aadhaar fraud:

Aadhaar OTP is an important tool, which is used for Aadhaar authentication. Rather than sharing it with someone else, it is better to use it by yourself to authenticate your Aadhaar card.

You can also check the history of Aadhaar authentication for the past six months. With this, you can check up to 50 authentication entries. The list contains the date and time of authentication. Hence, check carefully whether there is any unintended authentication entry in the list.

To prevent the misuse of your biometrics, lock your Aadhaar using the Aadhaar application or on the UIDAI website. It also enables you to unlock your biometrics whenever they are required. You need your virtual ID (VID) for using this service.

Updating your mobile number on your Aadhaar card is essential. It has many benefits, including providing alerts whenever your Aadhaar card is used or authenticated. You can also update your email ID to get notifications from the UIDAI.

A masked Aadhaar card reveals the last four digits of your Aadhaar number and masks the remaining eight digits of your Aadhaar number. You can use it wherever your full Aadhaar number is not required.

The UIDAI said that those who want to verify the Aadhaar of a person as identity proof should do it on the official website.

Users should generate their Aadhaar cards using the official website. They should delete the downloaded file if they use a public computer.

Image Credit: Nishu0246, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Image Reference: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sample_PVC_Aadhar_Card_back.jpg