Aadhaar to read face

People applying to get the Aadhaar Card, an easily verifiable 12 digit random number as Unique Identity. The Aadhaar Card is mandatory for all residents of India. Source: Shutterstock

TT, 15 January 2017: New Delhi: Facial authentication, along with any one of the other existing features, will be allowed as a verification method for Aadhaar from July to help those with worn-out finger prints and the aged.

"This facility is going to help in inclusive authentication of those who are not able to biometrically authenticate due to their worn-out fingerprints, old age or hard work conditions," the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which issues the Aadhaar cards, said in a statement.

It added that the feature would be allowed "only in fusion mode" along with one more authentication factor - either fingerprints, iris or one-time password - for successful authentication of an Aadhaar holder. The new method will also be allowed "on need basis".

"At the time of Aadhaar enrolment, photo of the face of resident is also captured. To provide inclusive authentication, face photo can also be leveraged to verify the identity of a Aadhaar number holder," the UIDAI said. As the photograph is already available in the UIDAI database, there is no need to capture any new data.

Ankush Johar, director of Infosec Ventures, an organisation that provides infrastructure security solutions, said: "The two-factor authentication is a good idea but face is a bad factor for authentication. Not only is it (facial identification) not too difficult to replicate, compared to other biometrics, a major problem lies in the source of the image used as the authentication mechanism."

If the image is old and the cardholder has aged or has changed his or her hair style or had any accident, it may be difficult to match with the older photograph.

Fooling the system is also not tough. Analysts pointed out that in November last year, a group of cyber security researchers were able to crack iPhone's facial recognition technology merely by using a $150 mask.