HOW TO: Lock/Unlock your Aadhar biometric data

Aadhar card has pretty much become mandatory across the board! Over the last couple of years, it has gone on to become one of the most credible Government documents that act as identity & address proof.

Source: Google Images

There are many, like me, who fear the misuse of information linked and stored in connection with Aadhar, as there have been multiple cases of Aadhar numbers and info of lakhs of people being compromised.

Biometric data refers to the iris, fingerprint & facial photograph of the Aadhar holder. The iris & fingerprint data is often used for authentification.

Keeping this in mind, UIDAI has rolled out a facility of locking or unlocking biometric data online, in order to prevent any misuse. 
Once the Biometric is locked by the Aadhar holder, he/she will not be able to use their Biometrics (fingerprints/iris) for authentications and neither can anyone else, thus preventing potential misuse. The process has been kept simple and once locked, it will temporarily get unlocked for only ten minutes. It automatically gets locked again. 

One can lock/unlock their biometric data online either through UIDAI portal or through the mAadhaar mobile app. 

Given below is the procedure to lock/unlock Aadhr details online:

Locking data:

Step 1. Visit UIDAI’s online portal and select the “Lock/Unlock Biometrics” from the Aadhaar Services section.

Step 2. Enter your 12-digit Aadhaar number and the security code and click on the 'Send OTP' option.

Step 3. An OTP will be sent to your mobile number registered with Aadhaar.

Step 4. Enter the OTP sent to your mobile number and click on the 'Login' button.

Step 5. Your biometrics will now be locked when you enter the 4 digit security code displayed on the screen and click on the “Enable” button.

Unlocking data:

Step 1. In order to unlock the biometrics, click on the “Login” button.

Step 2. Enter your Aadhaar number and the security code in the space provided.

Step 3. Click on the “Send OTP” button to receive one-time password on your mobile.

Step 4. The OTP will be sent to the mobile number registered with Aadhaar.

Step 5. Enter this OTP in the space provided and click on the “Login” button.

Step 6. Enter the security code and click on the “Unlock” button and your biometrics will be unlocked temporarily for 10 minutes.