When it comes to maintaining your personal life and financial security, Aadhaar card plays an important role these days. Considering how integrated the Aadhaar card is to your monthly utilities to your pension fund, maintaining a certain level of vigilance has become even more important in this day and age. Having said that, you need to be very careful while revealing your Aadhaar ID proof to anyone. If you want or want to share your Aadhaar details, you don’t need to resort to sharing the actual 12-digit Aadhaar card number. Instead, you can use ‘Masked Aadhaar ID‘ Or Virtual ID (VID) which has been provided by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). It is essentially a 16-digit ID number that can be shared without revealing anything important about your personal information.
What is Masked Aadhaar or VID?
As the name suggests it serves the purpose of obfuscating your Aadhaar number even though it is a legal method of verification. The Mask Aadhaar option allows users to hide their Aadhaar number in the download of e-Aadhaar copies. It essentially replaces the first 8 digits of your original Aadhaar number with crossed characters like ‘xxxx-xxxx’ and only the last 4 digits are visible.
Why is this a good option?
For one, it is a widely accepted form of identification, so there is no instance where a person can claim that it is an invalid form of identification. It has to be accepted. Secondly, it is much safer than using your real Aadhaar number as it reduces the chances of your Aadhaar number being distributed. Even if this number is circulated it carries very little risk as it does not convey anything significant, hence the risk mitigation factor makes it a very useful tool or aspect of Aadhaar.
how to download masked aadhaar
Step 1: Open the link – https://eaadhaar.uidai.gov.in/
Step 2: Enter your complete 12 digit Aadhar card number.
Step 3: Check the option that reads – ‘I want a masked Aadhaar’.
Step 4: Next you have to input the captcha verification code which will be provided to verify yourself.
Step 5: Click on ‘Send OTP’ option.
Step 6: Now, all that is left is for you to download the e-Aadhaar copy.
Earlier in August also, UIDAI had tweeted a warning to people against sharing their Aadhaar numbers to protect them from frauds. It had also warned people to be cautious while verifying their Aadhar card as well as that of others, this is especially applicable to employers and business owners who want to employ people but do not want to use their Aadhar card. needs to be verified. In line with issues where fraud cases are prevalent, you may use VID for your own security purposes.
It should be noted that one’s VID can be used any number of times. Also, keep in mind that when you share it, the agency or entity receiving that number will also receive your eKYC information, which is the same information that your Aadhaar card will provide. The advantage is that with this the Aadhaar number cannot be obtained or traced. Instead, the UIDAI would inform the entity that the person had actually verified the Aadhaar card and that it was a formal means of verification. In no way will an agency require a unique, original Aadhaar number for verification. If they do, it must be under some kind of law, which UIDAI will review to validate their requirement of the number under the said law. It is fair to say, this is all by the book and you as the cardholder are safe.
read all breaking news, breaking news And coronavirus news Here
.