A masked Aadhaar card lets you mask the first 8-digits of your Aadhaar number.
Are you worried about the security of your Aadhaar card data? The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has a feature called ‘Masked Aadhaar’ in which the 12-digit Aadhaar number will be partially covered, to make it safer. This feature will be beneficial in such cases where you do not want to share your Aadhaar number, just download a masked e-Aadhaar card from UIDAI’s website. Masked Aadhaar can be used for eKYC where sharing Aadhaar number is not necessary.
What is masked Aadhaar card
A masked Aadhaar card lets you mask the first 8-digits of your Aadhaar number, while the other 4 digits will be visible. When you download this version of your Aadhaar, your photo, QR code, demographic information, and other details will still be present. This is digitally signed and can be used where you have to provide Aadhaar only as an identity proof. However, masked Aadhaar cannot be used for govt welfare schemes such as LPG subsidy, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana scheme as these require full Aadhaar details of the beneficiaries.
Here are the steps to download a masked Aadhaar
1) Visit UIDAI website (https://uidai.gov.in/).
2) Select My Aadhaar option.
3) Under ‘My Aadhaar’tab, click on ‘Download Aadhaar’.
4) There are 3 options to download the e-Aadhaar.
a) Aadhaar number
b) Enrolment ID (EID)
c) Virtual ID (VID)
5) All these options have a check box that says ‘I want a masked Aadhaar’. Click on that.
6) Click on the send OTP button. An OTP will be sent to your registered mobile number.
7) Enter the OTP on the website to access your masked Aadhaar.
8) You can also click on the Enter TOTP (Time-bound OTP)
