New Delhi, May 31: The implementation of the most awaited Virtual ID (VID) system for Aadhaar has been delayed for a month. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on Thursday extended the deadline for service providers including banks to implement the Virtual ID to July 1. It must be noted that earlier deadline for implementation of the VID system was June 1.

For the unversed, the Virtual ID (VID) feature is aimed at giving users the option of not sharing their Aadhaar number at the time of authentication. The UIDAI- the body that issues Aadhaar to all the citizens had earlier said it will be compulsory for all agencies that undertake authentication to accept VID from their users from June 1, 2018. But now, it has decided to give one more month after the user agencies said they needed more time to switch to the new system.

The world’s largest ID database Aadhaar is protected by high-tech encryption, multi-layered authentication and best-in-class security. UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey told PTI that UIDAI is ready for the implementation but the agencies wanted some more time to switch to the VID system. “We have, therefore, given one more month till July 1”, the CEO said.

In January, the government had mooted VID as an alternative to giving out Aadhaar details during the Know Your Customer (KYC) process following reports of data leaks. The VID is a random 16-digit number that will be temporarily generated and only one VID will be active for one Aadhaar and it can be revoked at any time by the user. If the user has the VID, agencies will have to accept it. Users can use the VID instead of sharing the actual 12-digit biometric ID with agencies.

The extension comes after UIDAI considered the “difficulty and amount of internal work” involved for the agencies including telcos, banks, state governments, among others, the UIDAI CEO said. The implementation of VID is aimed to boost the privacy and security of Aadhaar data. The recent move comes amid heightened concerns about the collection and storage of personal and demographic data of individuals. It will also reduce the collection of Aadhaar numbers by various agencies.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 31, 2018 04:45 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).