Aadhaar can help tackle deepfake scams. Nandan Nilekani explains how
22 Feb 2025

Infosys co-founder and chairman, Nandan Nilekani, has proposed Aadhaar as a possible solution to the increasing menace of deepfake scams.

He made the remark while speaking at an event in New Delhi on Friday.

Nilekani noted that India is uniquely affected by a scam called "digital arrest," where victims are tricked into thinking they have been virtually arrested by authorities.

Aadhaar's role in verifying identity
Authentication solution

Nilekani suggested Aadhaar could be leveraged to validate a person's identity and check their presence.

He said, "In some sense Aadhaar solves the issue. If you want to show someone is a live person, you can Aadhaar authenticate him."

This would be done using artificial intelligence (AI) for biometric authentication via liveness checks, possibly offering a protection against deepfake scams.

Nilekani on data protection and AI usage
DPDP Act

Nilekani also addressed concerns regarding AI models using large amounts of data. He claimed that the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act offers a strong framework to regulate such usage.

"People will be rightfully concerned if their data is being used and so on. Fortunately, we have a very good DPDP Act. That, I think, will also govern AI usage," he said during the discussion.