Delhi begins Aadhaar Vault rollout to strengthen privacy safeguards

Officials said the vault will link with e District and UDH platforms and route authentication requests through a controlled environment after migration.

In an effort to enhance data protection and ensure strict compliance with privacy norms, the Delhi government has started implementing the Aadhaar Vault system to store residents’ Aadhaar details, officials aware of the matter said on Wednesday.

Authorities said the vault limits exposure of the 12 digit identifier during processing and supports compliance with upcoming national privacy rules. (HT Archive)

The initiative is being undertaken as per the guidelines of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and is intended to encrypt Aadhaar data and prevent identity misuse as more citizen services shift to paperless and digital platforms.

Government officials said the vault will act as a secure repository of Aadhaar data which will be linked with services under e-District and the Urban Development and Housing (UDH) department.

“The system is structured to prevent unauthorised data access and to clamp down on vulnerabilities that arise when Aadhaar information is used extensively across multiple departments. Security and compliance are paramount. The Aadhaar Vault will ensure that sensitive data is handled responsibly while improving the convenience of service delivery,” an official said.

The Aadhaar Vault is being implemented to address concerns around the possibility of data leaks or misuse of Aadhaar details as digitisation increases. According to officials, the vault’s encryption protocols will drastically reduce the exposure of the 12-digit identity number during authentication and back-end processing.

The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), a Union government-owned R&D institution specialising in cybersecurity and digital infrastructure, has been on-boarded for the roll-out. The Delhi government has signed an agreement with C-DAC on May 2, 2025, to operationalise the system and migrate relevant resident databases into the vault.

“Once the integration is fully complete, Aadhaar-related requests in e-governance services will be routed through a safe environment, ensuring that there is no leakage of personal identifiers,” a second official said.

According to officials from the IT department, the Aadhaar Vault has already undergone successful testing. It was deployed on the staging server on September 23, to evaluate security performance and interoperability with existing citizen service applications.

Besides safeguarding residents’ Aadhaar details, authorities expect the initiative to also support regulatory compliance with emerging national privacy frameworks. The government has been working to upgrade digital infrastructure across departments as part of its broader e-governance push.