Union IT and Electronics Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has announced major upgrades to the Aadhaar App, including the introduction of facial recognition technology for user authentication. Speaking during a cabinet briefing, Vaishnaw shared details about the new features aimed at making digital identity verification more accurate and user-friendly.

“The biggest target that I have put in front of Aadhaar team is how we can make the authorisation more accurate,” said Vaishnaw. “To do that, we can use biometric, facial authorisation is the easiest way, because you can use your own mobile.”

The upgraded Aadhaar App, which is currently in its Beta phase, will soon be fully released. The minister emphasized that adequate backup systems are being planned to support large-scale use across the country. “We need to have good backup, because people from all over the country will be doing authorisation. They are working out on that,” he explained.

In addition to facial recognition, the new app will also be aligned with the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023, ensuring better privacy and security of personal data. Vaishnaw said that the aim is to make life easier for citizens by reducing the need for carrying multiple ID cards. “The objective is to facilitate ease in everyone's life so that they don't need to use too many cards (identification cards), we have requested the Aadhaar team for that.”