Tue May 20 05:18:44 UTC 2025: Okay, here’s a summary of the text followed by its rewriting as a news article suitable for The Hindu:

**Summary:**

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has informed the Madras High Court that it is impossible to use fingerprints from a deceased person to ascertain their identity from the Aadhaar database. UIDAI cited legal restrictions under the Aadhaar Act of 2016, which prioritizes data confidentiality and limits biometric data usage to Aadhaar generation and authentication. UIDAI also stated there are technological limitations preventing the matching of fingerprints collected from physical objects with its database. This response came after a request from Tamil Nadu police to identify an unknown body using fingerprint analysis against the Aadhaar system.

**News Article:**

**UIDAI Cites Legal, Technical Hurdles in Identifying Deceased Via Aadhaar Fingerprints**

**CHENNAI, May 20, 2025** – The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has informed the Madras High Court that it cannot use fingerprints obtained from deceased individuals to retrieve their demographic information from the Aadhaar database. The UIDAI cited both legal constraints under the Aadhaar Act, 2016, and technological limitations as the reasons for its inability to comply with such requests.

The statement came in response to a writ petition filed by the Tamil Nadu police, who sought UIDAI’s assistance in identifying an unknown body by matching its fingerprints against the Aadhaar database.

In a counter-affidavit submitted to Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan, UIDAI emphasized that the Aadhaar Act imposes strict confidentiality requirements on individual records. Deputy Director Priya Sreekumar asserted that the Act restricts the sharing of core biometric information for purposes beyond Aadhaar generation and authentication.

“Aadhaar number is not used to track other activities of the resident,” Sreekumar stated in the affidavit.

Central government senior panel counsel K. Srinivasamurthy, representing the UIDAI, further clarified that Section 33 of the Act only permits the disclosure of identity information or authentication records with a specific order from the High Court or Supreme Court, and even then, core biometric data remains protected unless national security concerns are involved.

Beyond the legal constraints, UIDAI also stated that its fingerprint technology is designed for one-to-one biometric authentication, requiring a pre-existing Aadhaar number for comparison. It is not equipped to match fingerprints collected from physical surfaces with its database.

“There are technology constraints in matching the fingerprint collected on paper or other material with the Aadhaar database,” the Deputy Director added.

The matter has been adjourned until June 12 for further hearing. The court registry was instructed to schedule it on this date.

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