TigerIT and Renesas develop biometric privacy solution for Aadhaar

Bangladesh-based IT company TigerIT and Renesas Semiconductors have developed a solution consisting of both hardware and software it says can fill the data privacy gap in India’s biometric national ID program, Aadhaar.

According to the announcement, the device is embedded with a NIST-certified biometric SDK, offering asymmetric encryption, and key management takes place within its chip. The solution is the first of its kind to be certified by Aadhaar, the companies say. The devices limit the possibility of manipulation by operators to prevent the creation of fake Aadhaar cards and numbers, and provide information about previous data collection.

Aadhaar has caused frequent concern for data privacy, and its effect on privacy was cited in the dissenting opinion of the Supreme Court as it moved to limit the system’s scope. The Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDIA) has made changes to increase privacy protections, but breaches, confirmed and apparent have damaged Aadhaar’s reputation.

Renesas is a joint venture between Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Toshiba, and NEC.

The companies have projected sales of several million units in India, and plan to expand internationally.

“We are also thinking how this technology can be beneficial for our country,” TigerIT Scientist Md Nasiruddin Ahmed says. “It should replace the existing verification service to offer better privacy and security of citizens’ data.”

Other countries adopting biometrics for government ID systems are also potential markets for the product, the company says.

Identity Devices also launched a platform to add biometric privacy protections for Aadhaar early this year.

Article Topics

Aadhaar  |  biometrics  |  data protection  |  privacy  |  Renesas  |  TigerIT