Biometric Privacy Platform to Protect Indian Citizen Data

Article By : Sufia Tippu

Swedish digital identity and biometric firm Identity Devices announced an innovative new biometric privacy platform for the Aadhaar ecosystem to enable greater data security, privacy, consent and confidentiality for the Indian resident.

Bengaluru: Swedish digital identity and biometric firm Identity Devices announced an innovative new biometric privacy platform for the Aadhaar ecosystem to enable greater data security, privacy, consent and confidentiality for the Indian resident.

Aadhaar (meaning foundation) is the world’s largest biometric digital identity system for Indian citizens. It is a 12-digit unique identity number that can be obtained by residents of India, based on their biometric and demographic data. The data is collected by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), a statutory authority established in January 2009 by the Indian under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology,

Today, more than 90 percent of Indians have linked Aadhaar to government and non-governmental services such as those related to taxation, cooking gas subsidy, banking, passports, and so on.

Identity Devices’ Biometric Privacy Platform (BPP) consists of authentication hardware and software for the Aadhaar ecosystem and puts the resident in charge of the use of their Aadhaar data including picture, name, address, mobile number and more details.

This platform adds a privacy and consumer-choice layer on top of Aadhaar online and offline authentication modes, according to the company’s press release. Devices that have integrated BPP and its authentication modalities enable user interaction to make dynamic choices at the time of each authentication event.

According to Mr. David Burnett, CEO and Founder, Identity Devices, “Identity Devices is committed to the principle that individuals should have power over their personal data, what and when to share it, and how it is used. This principle can have no better validation than when it is applied to the Aadhaar user. We are delighted to be able to offer to the Indian market an instrument which addresses the very valid concerns of people regarding their sensitive personal data.

The solutions offered by Identity Devices will make it easier than ever before for Digital Identity, IoT and FinTech device makers to add biometric features that allow them to connect more securely to popular authentication and identity ecosystems, he added.

Also, BPP’s offline and online authentication capability is fully compliant with the Aadhaar Act, current Supreme Court rulings and other government policies.

“There is enormous demand for fingerprint and iris authentication in India now that systems like Aadhaar have demonstrated the ease-of-use, viability and economic benefits of multi-modal biometric authentication at very large scale. Our pre-certified and easy-to-integrate products directly address the needs of a wide range of device makers to quickly innovate and differentiate their products with biometric experiences and ecosystem integration,” Mukesh Singh, VP, Sales and Marketing, Identity Devices, India, pointed out.

Identity Devices Sweden AB (Identity Devices) was founded by industry experts from Sweden, India and the US, each with a background in biometric, digital identity, security, and financial technology and authentication markets.

The company recently partnered with a leading biometrics company Fingerprint Cards to accelerate biometric adoption in the global digital identity, fin-tech, IoT and other fast-growing vertical markets. Under the agreement, Identity Devices will include fingerprint and iris biometric technology from Fingerprints in new products and pre-certified integration kits. This would make it easier for device makers to add frictionless multi-modal biometric experiences and enable local authentication and access to both global and national authentication ecosystems.

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