Nowadays, when Aadhaar number, address and personal details are being sold on Telegram bots in a few money, UIDAI’s “Aadhaar Lock” feature can become a life saver for your digital privacy. Many people do not yet know that Aadhaar can be locked online, so that his misuse can stop. The advantage of this feature is that until you unlock yourself, no one will be able to use your Aadhaar number, whether it is KYC or any digital verification.
You can do this locking process with both the official website of UIDAI and the Maadhaar app. But remember, after locking Aadhaar, its 12-Digit number does not work, its place is used by Virtual ID (VID).
How to lock Aadhaar online?
- Visit UIDAI website (uidai.gov.in)
- Go to “My Aadhaar” section and choose “Lock/Unlock Aadhaar” option
- Enter Aadhaar number, name, pin code and verify from OTP
- After locking confirmation, your aadhaar number will be locked
If you have not yet generated the Virtual ID, you can create 16-Digit Vid from the UIDAI site via “Vid Generator”, which is used for identification after being locked.
When is it needed to unlock?
If you have to do E-Kyc, or need aadhaar authentication in a service, then you have to unlock it. After unlocking, the number remains active for a few hours, then locks automatically.
The aim of this feature is to protect your Aadhaar number from repeated misuse, especially in the era of public Wifi, third party apps or fraud KYC calls.