No integration or authentication with Aadhaar: Facebook confirms

Facebook campus 

Facebook will not need any integration or authentication with Aadhaar card, the company confirmed on Thursday. There were several reports on Wednesday that claimed Facebook may finally bring Aadhaar authentication for its users in India. The social media giant, however, has come out refuting any such claims and confirms that "there is no integration or authentication with Aadhaar."

Also read: Facebook confirms Aadhaar authentication in testing

Acknowledging the recent test being conducted by Facebook in India, Taichi Hoshino, Product Manager, Facebook in a blog post clarified, "We are not collecting Aadhaar data and do not require people to enter their Aadhaar name when they sign up to Facebook."  

The company said that the testing was done to help understand how to sign-up to Facebook with their real name and connect with their friends and family.  

"At the point of account sign-up, users who were part of the test saw language that said, “using the name on your Aadhaar card makes it easier for friends to recognize you.” This is an optional prompt that we were testing. People were not required to enter the name on their Aadhaar card, and there is no integration or authentication with Aadhaar," said Hoshino. 

Facebook confirmed that the test ran with a small number of users in India and has now finished.  "As with all tests, we may learn new things that help us provide a better sign-up experience for people joining Facebook, but we currently have no plans to roll this test out further," added the company.