Face & Iris Recognition For Aadhar Card Authentication (UIDAI New Rules)

Now, when you go out to buy a new SIM card OR open a new bank account in India. you will not just be asked to share your Aadhaar number and authenticate yourself to give your fingerprints, you will also be required to get a picture of your face for authentication.

The UIDAI is introducing the Aadhaar face recognition technology to Aadhaar authentication making the process more inclusive and also coming the possibility of fingerprint spoofing or cloning.

The Unique Identification Authority of India has announced a new measure that seeks to mandate facial recognition for every authentication that requires Aadhaar. The authentication will happen by taking on the spot pictures in addition to the regular authentication process that identifies an individual based on fingerprints all and iris scan.

Statement Of Ajay Bhushan Panday Ceo (UIDAI) On New Rule

Along with the fingerprint, the face is also will be captured at this service point and then the authentication will happen because now the fingerprint is coming along with the face so even if the fingerprint is a little weaker, the UID face authentication is possible. for this is what we have introduced and hopefully with this, the people who use to have problems getting access to the service, for example, opening bank account Getting their pensions, Getting their PDS ration and various other services,which they used to have difficulty in accessing this both services because of weeker fingerprints now through the Aadhaar face authentication they will have very minimal problem so it improves inclusion.

According to CEO of UIDAI that Several years back in order to access your bank account you needed only username and password. now in over the period of time, most of the banks have gone for your second-factor authentication. that if you want to transfer money then you have OTP which comes to your mobile and then you enter the OTP to verification. in addition to password there is one more Factor authentication Similarly in Aadhaar authentication is to happen with the Aadhaar number and the fingerprint now along with that face’s picture also will be required

According to UIDAI About Aadhaar Face Authentication

According to UIDAI, the new authentication process will be rolled out in a phased manner. initially, it would be mandated for providers of SIM cards, telecom companies, Telecom operators be directed that with effect from the 15th of September this year.

at least 10% of the total monthly authentication transactions should be performed using facial recognition. any shortfall in transactions using UIDAI face authentication would pay the penalty 20 paise per transaction.

UIDAI has proposed two-factor authentication for use of Aadhaar face recognition by telecom companies. where an individual provides Aadhaar number authentication will be done using fingerprint OR Iris and face. For individuals providing virtual ID, authentication can be on the basis of fingerprint or Iris print.

UIDAI also said in cases where an individual is unable to authenticate fingerprint or iris, Aadhaar face authentication can be used as an additional mode to make the system more inclusive.

How will the UIDIA’s Aadhaar face authentication happen?

• The measure involved clicking the photo of Aadhar user and then sending that photo along with the fingerprint OR iris scan of the person to UIDAI server.
• The servers then verify the details on its database and send a confirmation regarding The authenticity of the person.
• UIDAI said this authentication process is very sophisticated and will not be impacted by changes to a person’s face.

The measure comes at a time The Supreme Court is yet to decide whether the use of Aadhar can be made mandatory for services such as mobile sim card, banks, insurance policy etc. objections have been raised on the mandatory usage of Aadhar prompting in the apex court make it voluntary until it takes the final decision on the matter.

Benefits Of UIDAI Face Recognition Technology

While facial recognition technology is being here that the major boost, police and security agencies in identifying criminals and terrorist.concerns of raised over the privacy issues and date leak. here they look at the advantages and disadvantages of using facial recognition Technology.

Facial recognition Technology helped catch its first-time poster in Washington Dulles International Airport on Thursday. just 3 days after the airport started using it. the 26-year-old man from Brazil was caught trying to enter the US with a French passport.

The technology reveals that the man was not the same as the picture in the passport. he was later found to be a citizen of the Republic of Congo. in June this year the US Federal Bureau of Investigation identified 34-year-old Jarrod Ramos as a suspect in the shooting incident at a local newspaper in Maryland using facial recognition Technology.

The US Department of the state operates one of the largest face recognition systems in the world with a database of 117 million American and often helping the FBI in identifying a crucial suspect. the facial recognition technology is more famous as a security feature in smartphones computers and Robotics but its most crucial use is international policy and national security.

• Facial recognition Technology can help police and security Agency is identified, terrorist and criminals.
• it also acts as a final check to stop terrorists and criminals from fleeing or entering the country.
• The technology eliminates the possibility of someone using a genuine document issued to someone else.
• It also speeds up the process of making fresh passport immigration.
• Facial recognition is useful in finding missing people.
• The technology helps the visually impaired people by telling them the names of people around them.
• Many companies use it to channel products to the most likely users by monitoring buying interest and facial expressions while suffering a shopping app.
• What the facial recognition technology is still evolving, civil concerns are being raised, especially with Amazon launching its own facial recognition project making the technology easily available to everyone.

UIDIA’s Aadhaar Face Authentication Disadvantage

• Human Rights organisations fear that facial recognition could lead to mass surveillance.
• Biases reported in the performance of several face recognition Technology.
• Civil rights claim the technology poses of threats to minority communities and immigrant.
• Privacy concerns are also being raised by the activists at many places globally.
• Facial data is stored on service it is susceptible to attacks by hackers who can use this data for cybercrime or misidentification it could make major trouble for the people.

The Technology Sector is working overtime to address many of these issues. however, till these glitches are removed concerns of a data theft and privacy intrusion will continue to be raised.

Technology Behind Facial Recognition & How It Will Be Use For Aadhar Authentication.

The facial recognition Technology analyses the characteristics of a person’s face, taking note of its unique features called the nodal point.

Humans have always had the innate ability to recognise and distinguish between faces yet it is only recently that computers have shown the same ability. in mid-1960, scientist began work on using the computer to recognise human faces since then facial recognition software has come a long way.

There are multiple methods in which facial recognition systems work but in general, they were by comparing selected facial features from a given image with faces within a database.

In order for the software to work, it has to know how to differentiate between a face and the rest of the background. facial recognition software is based on the ability to recognise the face and then measure the various features of that face.

Face recognition algorithms can be divided into two main approaches, geometric which looks at distinguishing features or photometric which is a statistical approach that distils an image into values and compares those values with templates to eliminate variances.

Earlier facial recognition software relied on a 2D image to compare or identify another 2D image from the database. in most instances the images were not taken in a controlled environment, even the smallest changes in light or orientation could reduce the effectiveness of the system so they could not be matched to any face in the database and leading to a high failure rate. this created quite a problem.

The latest development in the facial recognition software uses a 3D model. claiming to provide more accuracy, in order to create a real-time 3D image the technology uses distinctive features of the face. every face has numerous distinguishable landmarks the different peaks and valleys that make up facial features.

The software-defined these landmarks as nodal points with each human face having approximately 18 nodal points, some of these points measured by the software includes the distance between the eyes with of the nose, depth of the eye sockets, the shape of the cheekbones and the length of the jawline. these nodal points are measured creating a numerical code call the face print, represent in the face in the database.

There are several ways face recognition software can be design, however, most of them have this three main stages-detection, alignment and recognition.

Detection

• Determines the location and size of human faces in digital images.
• Acquiring an image can be accomplished by digitally scanning an existing photograph or by using a video image to acquire a live picture of a subject.

Alignment

• The system determines the head position size and pose.
• The subject has the potential to be recognised up to 90° while with 2D the head must be turned at least 35 degrees towards the camera.

Recognition

• The actual is the classification of the detected aligned and normalised faces into known identities.
• Basically, it answers the question of who is it?

Verification

There is a verification process as well and an image is matched to only one image in the database.

The primary users of facial recognition software have been law enforcement Agencies till now to use the system to capture random faces in crowd but there are many more situations where the software is becoming popular as the systems become less expensive their uses also becoming more widespread they are now compatible with cameras and computers that are already in use at banks and airport.

As with many developing Technologies The Incredible potential of facial recognition comes with some drawbacks but manufacturers are striving to enhance the usability and accuracy of the systems.

The most debate around the Unique Identification Authority of India and Aadhar, focus on privacy concerns. security of the database and on the legality of making Aadhaar mandatory but even if these three concerns shorted out but there are other concerns that need immediate attention. let’s look at some other concerns.

The Aadhar card number is a 12 digit number issued by the UIDAI to citizens of India after satisfying the verification process laid down by the authorities. this eliminates duplicates and fake identities and serves as a basis or primary identifier. while promoting transparency and good governance. Aadhar project is one of the significant projects in India to bring the universal trend of digital innovation.

The government recently made Aadhaar Card mandatory for many government application but concerns over privacy, security and the legality.

Aadhaar Card Challenges

• They include the risk of the individual as well as the government If the data is insecure
• Since Aadhar Card contains both demographic and biometric data.
• The government has been linking every welfare Or national scholarship scheme and benefit to Aadhar card.
• From the day Aadhar project has started, there have been incidents where the Aadhar Card has been considered invalid due to various factors.
• For the in a country, wherein literacy under rural Lifestyle predominate, using Aadhar Card has it’s dangerous.
• Also, the Aadhaar project is being handled by a private company that was chosen after winning a round of options, companies that could compromise the privacy of individuals.
• Then there are also problems arising due to centralisation.individual information getting compromised, misuse in banking transactions not being an address proof or proof of citizenship and the fact that Aadhar Card alone is not an ID.

In an attempt to address the privacy concerns, the UIDAI in January introduced a new concept of virtual ID. that a holder can generate from its website and give for various purposes including sim verification instead of sharing the actual 12 digits biometric Aadhaar ID.

History Of Aadhaar Card In India

The first Aadhar Card was issued in 2010 and the idea to create a unique number of each and every Indian resident started way back in 2006.

Unique Identification Authority of India or UIDAI is a statutory authority established under the Aadhaar targeted delivery of financial another subsidies, benefits and services act 2016.

It was launched on the 12th of July 2016 under the ministry of Electronics and information technology. Aadhar was intended to provide good governance, efficient, transparent and targeted delivery of subsidies, benefits and services to Indian by assigning them a Unique Identity Number.

Another objective of Aadhaar end duplicate and fake identities in welfare schemes and flood relief and check corruption. the idea was first mooted in the first term of the UPA government by the planning commission.

In 2006, Department of Information Technology Ministry of Communications and information technology give administrative approval for a scheme to issue unique ID for below poverty line family. its pilot project was developed by IT company Wipro.

At the same time, the government was also working on creating the National Population register and the multipurpose National identification card.

• In December 2006, it constituted an Empire group of ministers to create the two schemes: the National Population register under the citizenship act 1955 and the UID scheme.
• On 28 January 2008, the group of empowered ministers give a go-ahead for setting up UIDAI under the planning commission.
• The proposal was finally approved by the Council of Ministers in November 2008.
• In July 2009, with the recommendation from the Council of Ministers, the government appointed Nandan Nilekani as the chairman of UIDAI for 5 years.
• Under the UIDAI enrolment biometric information like photographs, 10 fingerprints and two iris scan of individuals are collected and stored in a centralised database.
• The first UID number was issued on 29 September 2010 to a resident of Maharashtra.
• As a February 2018 more than 89% of the total has been issued Aadhaar number making it the world’s largest biometric ID.