DigiLocker – Aadhar based Govt of India’s Digital Locker.

How are you managing all your important documents right now? In a file Cover, inside your cupboard or your wardrobe? Or is it in a digital form saved in your local computer, email or dropbox? The big question is, Can these third party systems really be trusted? A solution to all these insecurity is the “DigiLocker”,a completely secure platform, launched by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, under the ministry of communications & IT in February 2015, as a part of the Digital India Programme. The “DigiLocker “, is primarily a Digital Locker or cyber locker, an online file or digital media storage service. Files that can be stored in a digital locker may include your documents, music, videos, movies, games and other media.What is DigiLocker? The DigiLocker system is dedicated to personal use only and is Aadhaar based which means to use this system you must have Aadhaar Card .It can be used to securely store e-documents as well as store Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) link of e-documents issued by various issuer departments. The e-Sign facility provided as part of DigiLocker system can be used to digitally sign e-documents. In the initial phase, 1 million digital lockers will be made available, with 10 MB of storage space per person. This will eventually be scaled up to 1 GB per locker. Stakeholders 1. Issuer Entity issuing e-documents to individuals in a standard format and making them electronically available e.g. CBSE, Registrar Office, Income Tax department, etc. 2. Requester Entity requesting secure access to a particular e-document stored in the repository (e.g. University, Passport Office, Regional Transport Office, etc.) 3. Resident An individual who uses the Digital Locker service based on Aadhaar and OTP (One Time Password) authentication. Components 1. Repository Collection of e-documents and exposing a standard API for secure real-time access. 2. Access Gateway Online mechanism for requesters to access an e-document in a uniform way from various repositories in real-time 3. Digital Locker • Dedicated personal storage space, linked to each resident’s Aadhaar • To securely store e-documents • To store URI link of e-documents • eSign online service to digitally sign documents 4. Digital Locker Portal • Digital Locker directory list of registered Issuers, repositories, gateways, policies, guidelines and forms • Dashboard for providing real time transaction volumes of the e-documents accessed So, how is it going to help me? • You can access your DigiLocker account anywhere and at any point of time provided you have a working internet connection. • The DigiLocker will minimize the use of physical documents and will provide authenticity of the e-documents. • You can also share e-documents online with any registered requester agency or department. It will provide secure access to Govt. issued documents. A simple example to demonstrate the use of the DigiLocker would be, an Educational University can issue Graduation certificates and upload them to digital locker system. Students can then access their respective education certificates online (based on Aadhaar Id number). • It will also reduce administrative overhead of Govt. departments and agencies and make it easy for the residents to receive services. • Ensure privacy and authorized access to residents’ data • You can access List of issuers which have issued e-documents to resident (you) and list of requesters which have accessed resident’s (your) documents In the present scenario if any agency/department require your documents then you need to submit it in a physical or scanned image format. This is a cumbersome task not only for you, but to the concerned entity also because authenticating the originality of those documents is a very tedious task. And there is always a chance of someone faking your documents, which we may well be unaware of. Hence, it is very much a necessity to integrate the issuer, user, and the agency into a safe, secure and hassle free platform. To Sign-up for the DigiLocker you need to have an Aadhaar number and a mobile number registered with Aadhaar . For more details please visit the website https://digitallocker.gov.in/ This article is published by NIELIT Kohima as a part of the Digital India Week. Content provided by : Bendangakum Jamir, NIELIT Kohima.