As we know the government has mandated Aadhaar with all the government official documents and seems to be on its way to become the most authentic identity proof.
Recently facebook which is an online social media and social networking platform has asked new users to use their Aadhaar at the time of creating a new account. Facebook is testing new feature which encourages those opening new accounts to submit their names as in their Aadhaar cards.
At the time of submitting the name in order to create a new account in facebook the prompt by reads
The testing was first spotted by users on Reddit and Twitter. However, not everyone sees this prompt at the time of opening a new account. As per the reports, Facebook says this is a new feature and only a few of the users would see this and it is also an optional prompt and users are not required to enter the name on their Aadhaar card.
- Facebook has asked new users to use their Aadhaar at the time of creating a new account.
- This is a new feature and only a few of the users would see this and it is also an optional prompt
- The goal of the move was to help new users understand how to sign up to Facebook with their real name and connect with their friends and family.
It further says
It is also important to note that facebook is asking for “Aadhaar name” and not “Aadhaar number”, hence, it can hardly be seen as something to evoke concern over privacy. However, it has successfully gained attention since the increasingly mandatory use of Aadhaar for various services has been opposed by several activists.
The US based company has clarified in a blog post that
It has also added that the goal of the move was to help new users understand how to sign up to Facebook with their real name and connect with their friends and family.
This move of the company is seen as part of company’s efforts to check the increasing number of fake accounts on the platform.
Also note that, facebook is not the first private agency to prompt Aadhaar. Many other internet companies are now making this unique identity card mandatory for the customers to avail the services. One of the leading e – commerce site; Amazon has asked customers to upload their Aadhaar details in order to track lost packages. It also says that it is a necessary means of authenticating customer identity.
To know more about it, you can also read ‘Now Aadhaar is mandatory for customers to avail internet services’ by visiting https://rupeenomics.com/now-aadhaar-is-mandatory-for-customers-to-avail-internet-services/
India is considered to be the second largest market for facebook after the US with a user base of over 240 million. On the other hand, with 119 crore residents already enrolled for the Aadhaar—a unique 12 – digit number backed by fingerprints, iris scans and certain demographic details—the programme today is the world’s largest biometric database.