India Expands Digital Identity Use Amid Security and Privacy Concerns
Indian officials and agencies are pushing to broaden the use of digital identity in both public and private contexts, while explicitly raising cybersecurity and accountability concerns. In Hyderabad, Police Commissioner V.C. Sajjanar publicly argued that autonomous AI agents operating in critical sectors (e.g., banks, hospitals, power grids) should be issued a verifiable digital identity and be subject to strong logging and traceability so investigators can determine “which agent opened which file,” what changes were made, and where data was sent—framing the need as a safeguard against errors and the risk of cybercriminals hijacking agent behavior.
Separately, India’s UIDAI is expanding Aadhaar into more day-to-day use via a new Aadhaar app and an offline verification framework intended to reduce reliance on real-time checks against the central database, while enabling selective disclosure (e.g., proving age without sharing full birthdate). The initiative also extends Aadhaar into consumer ecosystems (including planned Google Wallet integration and discussions with Apple Wallet) and into operational deployments such as policing and hospitality—e.g., Ahmedabad City Crime Branch integrating Aadhaar-based offline verification with the PATHIK guest-monitoring platform—prompting critics to reiterate concerns about security, consent, and privacy as Aadhaar’s footprint grows.
Timeline
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The People's Bank of China issued a new notice reaffirming its cryptocurrency ban, adding restrictions that make most real-world-asset tokenization illegal and banning stablecoins pegged to the Chinese currency.
Feb 9, 2026
Hyderabad police commissioner calls for digital IDs for AI agents
Hyderabad Police Commissioner V.C. Sajjanar publicly proposed issuing autonomous AI agents a digital identity and requiring comprehensive logging of their actions, citing safety and cybercrime risks.
Feb 9, 2026
Critics warn Aadhaar expansion raises privacy and accountability risks
Civil liberties and digital rights groups publicly warned that the broader Aadhaar rollout could worsen consent, security, accuracy, and redress problems while enabling renewed private-sector dependence on the system.
Feb 9, 2026
UIDAI opens discussions on Aadhaar support for Apple Wallet
Indian authorities are in discussions to bring Aadhaar to Apple Wallet, signaling further planned expansion of wallet-based identity use.
Feb 9, 2026
Google Wallet integration for Aadhaar is planned
UIDAI said Aadhaar support is planned for Google Wallet, extending the identity system's reach into additional consumer payment and credential platforms.
Feb 9, 2026
UIDAI expands Aadhaar into more private-sector and daily-life uses
UIDAI began positioning Aadhaar for broader use across hotels, housing societies, workplaces, platforms, payment devices, and mobile wallets, making the system more ubiquitous in everyday transactions.
Feb 9, 2026
UIDAI rolls out new Aadhaar app and offline verification framework
India's UIDAI introduced a new Aadhaar app and an offline verification system designed to let users prove identity without live queries to the central Aadhaar database, including selective disclosure features.
Feb 9, 2026
Samsung Wallet adds Aadhaar support
Before the latest rollout, UIDAI had already enabled Aadhaar support in Samsung Wallet, establishing an early wallet-based use case for the identity system.
Jan 1, 2018
India's Supreme Court limits private-sector use of Aadhaar
In 2018, India's Supreme Court restricted private companies from relying on Aadhaar for authentication, a limit critics say the current expansion may undermine.
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