India's UIDAI Updates 20M Children's Biometrics Using School Database
India's Unique Identification Authority (UIDAI) has updated biometric data for over 20 million schoolchildren by integrating with a national education database. Questions are being raised about parental consent for the process.
India's Unique Identification Authority (UIDAI) has completed mandatory biometric updates for over 20 million schoolchildren, utilizing the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+), a database managed by the Ministry of Education. These updates were conducted through camps held in approximately 1.56 lakh schools across the country.
Aadhaar, India's national identification system, requires children to undergo two biometric updates: one photograph and fingerprint/iris scan at age five, and another at age 15. This is due to physiological changes as children grow. The recent initiative involved UIDAI conducting these updates directly in schools, facilitated by UDISE+ identifying students due for updates.
The UIDAI typically offers these mandatory biometric updates free of charge once between ages 5-7 and again between 15-17. The fee is Rs 125 outside these windows, but it has been temporarily waived for children aged 7-15 until September 30, 2026. The authority has warned that outdated biometric records could lead to authentication failures, potentially disrupting access to services like examination registrations for NEET, JEE, and CUET.
The process has drawn scrutiny regarding parental consent, especially under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDP Act), which mandates verifiable parental consent for processing children's data. It remains unclear what specific consent forms were used at the school camps, whether parents could decline the update, and what mechanisms were in place to ensure consent was informed and freely given. Furthermore, the legal basis for integrating UDISE+ data for Aadhaar updates and any preceding privacy assessments have not been publicly disclosed.
Medianama has formally queried UIDAI and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) about the consent procedures, data linkage authorizations, and data security practices employed during these school-based updates. Responses are pending.