Biometric Data, Identification and Authentication in India – Legal Framework, Challenges and Impact

In the last decade, technology has developed rapidly to include the use of biometric data in our daily life. Biometric Data is being used to identify people and authenticate their identity in India in almost all spheres, from the use of Aadhar for government and welfare benefits, banks, workplaces, access to data, and to use of biometric in rapidly growing e-commerce industry. Usage of Biometric Data Authentication has become the new norm as it has been to solve a lot of security issues. However, Biometric Data being our most personal and sensitive data is not free from the flaws in the system and is vulnerable to many issues such as data privacy and security and authentication issues. In India, there is still no exhaustive and comprehensive laws on the usage of biometric data that reflects international standard. This paper aims to study the introduction of Biometric Data, Identification and Authentication in India and the legal challenges it puts in the IT sector and how such biometric authentication works with other variables such as e-transactions, e-commerce and others. This paper will delve into prevalent legal framework that governs such practices and understand the undergoing challenges and impact that effects and governs the present scenario.