What is the new Aadhaar app feature?

The new Aadhaar app allows for offline identity verification, enabling users to share limited personal information without real-time checks.

What are the concerns surrounding Aadhaar's expansion?

Concerns include increased security risks, questions about consent, evolving data protection frameworks, and potential privacy breaches.

How is Aadhaar expanding its use in India?

Aadhaar is being integrated into mobile wallets, policing, hospitality, and digital visiting cards, shifting its role into a more visible daily interface.

Home / Technology / India's Aadhaar Goes Offline: New App Sparks Privacy Fears

India's Aadhaar Goes Offline: New App Sparks Privacy Fears

10 Feb

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Summary

New Aadhaar app enables offline identity verification.
Digital identity system expands into private sector uses.
Concerns raised over security, consent, and data privacy.

India's Aadhaar Goes Offline: New App Sparks Privacy Fears

India is expanding the reach of Aadhaar, its massive digital identity system, into everyday private life through a new application and offline verification support. Announced in late January 2026, these changes allow individuals to share limited personal information with various services like hotels and workplaces without real-time checks against the central database. The existing mAadhaar app continues to operate in parallel.

The new app also facilitates Aadhaar's integration with mobile wallets, including Google Wallet, and is being promoted for use in policing and hospitality, such as guest monitoring platforms. Officials state these efforts are intended to replace physical photocopies and manual ID checks with a consent-based, offline verification method, aiming to give users more control over their shared data and enable verification at scale.