You may have heard or not but a few months back there was viral news about the data leak of Aadhaar and there was an allegation against UIDAI. UIDAI is the sole authority of Aadhaar to keep the private data safe. Even the opposition party had made hot air in parliament. Not only that whenever we purchase a new SIM card or anything online EKYC you need to enter your 12 digit Aadhaar card number. So there is a big chance of data leak as your aadhaar number is exposed to them and even it happens. To tackle this problem and protect our Aadhaar data, UIDAI and Govt. of India have launched virtual Aadhaar Number or Virtual ID (VID).
So what is the Virtual ID or Virtual Aadhaar ID or VID?
Virtual ID or VID is 16 digit number which will be generated from your 12 digit Aadhaar number. Keep it mind that Virtual ID is 16 digit and it is not permanent. You can always generate your VID by putting your Aadhaar ID. When you generate new VID then the previous one will be invalid.
What is the purpose of VID or Virtual Aadhaar ID?
VID is a temporary number that you have generated for your need. Like if you need to purchase a new SIM card, just visit the shop with your VID. They will enter VID on their system to authenticate. When the authentication process has done they will able to see some limited data about you like name address etc. and they will not get your actual Aadhaar number. This will protect your privacy.
So how to create VID or Virtual ID of Aadhaar?
- First, make sure your Aadhar is likened with your mobile number as you will get OTP for validation
- Visit this website by UIDAI. Open from desktop PC. ( In mobile this site does not work properly)
- Enter your 12 digit Aadhaar number then enter the security code or captcha
- Hit on Send OTP. You will get an OTP on your linked mobile number.
- Put the OTP on the left side of the webpage
- Choose Generate VID
- Then click on Submit. It will show like this greeting you congratulation
- You will receive the 16 digit VID number through SMS
In case if you have forgotten your VID then you can choose the retrieve VID option to get the VID number via SMS on your mobile number.