Fact Check: Has the government cautioned against the deposit of photocopied Aadhaar cards

A Masked Aadhaar is one where only the last four digits of the Aadhaar number are visible. They can be used only for identification purposes and for services such as opening a bank account

New Delhi, Feb 14: A message has gone viral claiming that the Centre has cautioned people not to deposit photocopied versions of their Aadhaar cards anywhere.

"Central government has issued important orders regarding Aadhaar card. According to this new suggestion, the government has asked not to deposit the Xerox of Aadhaar card anywhere. The government has issued these orders to prevent misuse of Aadhaar card. Government has suggested that masked xerox of Aadhaar card should be given if xerox of Aadhaar card is essential at a place," the viral Messe claims.

"According to the order issued by the Central Government, hotels, cinema halls or other private institutions have no right to collect copies of Aadhaar cards from customers or individuals. Central Government has appealed to use Masked Aadhar Card to avoid fraud through Aadhaar Card. "Masked Aadhar Card" shows last four digits of Aadhaar number. So chances of using your Aadhaar card are greatly reduced," the message also claims, while giving steps on how to download a masked Aadhaar.

On May 27 last year, the Bengaluru Regional Office of the UIDAI published a notification asking people not to share photocopies of their Aadhaar card as it could be misused.

Following this order, the social media put out scores of messages criticising this order. According to them, the order comes at a time when several outlets ranging from hospitals to hotels, insisted on retaining the photocopies of the Aadhaar cards.

Reacting to the claims on the social media, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) said that the order stands withdrawn.

"The release advised the people to not to share photocopy of their Aadhaar with any organisation because it can be misused. Alternatively, a masked Aadhaar which displays only the last 4 digits of Aadhaar number, can be used. However, in view of the possibility of the misinterpretation of the Press Release, the same stands withdrawn with immediate effect," MeitY said in a press release.

"We urge you to be very discreet abt (sic) your Aadhar and other identity documents. Do not share the document no. or a printed copy with anyone," the UIDAI had said on its official Twitter handle on November 11 2016.

MeitY in its statement had said that the UIDAI had advised Aadhar card holders only to exercise normal prudence in using and sharing their Aadhaar numbers and their Bangalore subsidiary advisory stands withdrawn. The ministry also clarified that the advisory was in context of an attempt to misuse an Aadhaar card using a photocopy.

"Aadhaar Identity Authentication ecosystem has provided adequate features for protecting and safeguarding the identity and privacy of the Aadhaar holder," the statement read.

A Masked Aadhaar is a version of the Aadhaar card, which is a unique identification card where only the last four digits of the Aadhaar number are visible, while the rest are masked or hidden. This version can be used as a form of identification, but cannot be used for services that require the full Aadhaar number, such as opening a bank account.

Hence it is clear that while the UIDAI had issued an advisory on the photocopied and Masked Aadhar it was withdrawn after there was an uproar on the social media about it.