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DigiLocker- Your documents Anytime, Anywhere

Updated: Aug 9, 2023


#DigiLocker is an Indian online platform available as a website as well as a mobile app. Storing important documents such as Aadhar, Driving license, Academic marks sheet, and many more in digital format is its primary use. It is a government-accredited online document sharing system. The e-documents in DigiLocker are valid equally as the original hard copies. Thus the burden of collecting them, carrying them everywhere required is reduced to a great extent.


Why DigiLocker?


This is an initiative under the #DigitalIndia mission by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. India is a country of 13.8 billion where there are millions of students and an enormous number of people utilizing government services. Hence a countless number of documents switch hands each day. There are possibilities of important documents getting tampered with within this course. People may also lose documents and have to follow several lengthy procedures to get them anew.


Searching Files Online
Searching and storing Files Online

To avoid these problems of documentation, the government of India is providing an online platform, the DigiLocker, where people can request e-documents from issuers and can also store them in the cloud. It is also environmental-friendly as it saves a lot of paper, thereby saving plenty of trees.


Features


A new version of this application was introduced in February 2015 replacing the then existing beta version. A space of 100 MB was previously provided to all users to save their documents. But, due to the rapid increase in the number of users and issuers using this platform, space now provided to an individual is 1 GB. One can sign in to a DigiLocker account by entering their Aadhar number, and the OTP received on the registered mobile number. Incase if the mobile number is not updated or the registered one is not available, one can sign in using Fingerprint authentication.


DigiLocker has the following sections namely -

  • My Profile: This section has the details of an individual as present in the #UIDAI database.


Profile Section
Profile Section

  • Issuers: It has the name of organizations and certificates that are issued by them to the user.


Issuers Section
Issuers Section
  • Requesters: This section has the names of requesters and the list of documents that are requested from the user.

  • My Certificates: This again has two sub-sections

  1. Uploaded Documents: These are the documents uploaded by the user. Each file should not exceed 10 MB and must be uploaded in jpg, jpeg, pdf, png, or gif formats.

  2. Digital documents: It contains the URLs of the digital documents issued by various organizations.


Uploaded Documents Section
Uploaded Documents Section

Issued Documents Section
Issued Documents Section

  • Shared Documents: This section has a complete list of certificates that are shared by the user via E-mail.


Shared Documents Section
Shared Documents Section

  • Activity: This section consists of the activity of the user such as the time and date of login etc.


Activity Section
Activity Section

The uploaded documents can be self-attested by using the e-Sign feature. The documents can also be organized in folders for easy access. The 'View only' feature doesn't allow the receiver to make any edits to the document and hence ensures its safety.


Security Provided by DigiLocker:


DigiLocker adopts the following practices to ensure total safety and security of one's data.

  • Mobile Authentication Based Sign Up: To sign In to the DigiLocker account, one must enter the One Time Password received on their registered mobile phone.

  • 256 Bit SSL Encryption: Information transferred during any activity is encrypted with a 256-bit secure socket layer(SSL).

  • Data Redundancy: Data is securely backed up with proper redundancy.

  • User Consent-Based System: DigiLocker shares information only with the user's explicit consent. The details of sharing and logging in are conveyed to the user. The receivers must register themselves in DigiLocker to access the documents shared with them.

  • ISO 27001 Certified Data Center: This application is operated on an ISO 27001 Certified Data Center.

  • Timed Log Out: The session logs out automatically if inactivity is detected. This protects one's account from illegal access.

  • Security Audit: DigiLocker is frequently audited and certified by various recognized audit agencies.

  • Standard Practices: Digilocker follows the guidelines, reviews, standard software development methods of uniform coding criteria, and every new version is examined for safety and penetration before deploying the configuration in the servers.


Organizations Using DigiLocker:


DigiLocker Uses
DigiLocker Uses

It is not just an online technology platform. Amendments made to the IT act in February 2017 state that the issued documents provided and shared over DigiLocker are at par with the respective hardcopies. By December 2019, Digilocker is providing access to over 372+ crore documents from 149 issuers. There are 43 requester organizations that accept the documents from DigiLocker. A few are as follows:

  • ICSE board students can now store their x and xii certificates in DigiLocker and share them when necessary.

  • Kotak Mahindra Bank is now accepting e-signed documents from DigiLocker.

  • Over 108 hospitals are planning to use DigiLocker to store and share various test reports and medical documents.

  • Ministry of Civil Aviation accepts the identity proof via DigiLocker for entry to Airport.

  • Ministry of Railways now accepts the Online Aadhar or Driving License as the proof of identity for train journeys.

  • Department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance accepts digital KYC documents.

Conclusion


This is an era of technology where digital transactions and assets have increased rapidly. #Digitalization can benefit India in its way towards the list of developed countries. Platforms like DigiLocker have the potential to store and securely handle huge volumes of data. This also makes many tasks easier and helps reduce the usage of paper. Currently, over 3.3 crore users are registered on DigiLokcer. More awareness must be spread among people about such platforms, and organizations should also execute their part effectively in building a Paper-Free India.

 

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