India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 establishes comprehensive data protection requirements for organizations processing personal data of Indian residents. With over 1.4 billion people and rapidly growing digital adoption, India represents both a massive market and a complex compliance environment. The Aadhaar system has created universal digital identity, while diverse languages, naming conventions, and regional identifiers add layers of complexity to PII detection.
Our India-specific redaction capabilities address these unique challenges. We detect and validate Aadhaar numbers using the Verhoeff checksum algorithm, recognize PAN, Voter ID, and other government identifiers, support multiple Indian languages, and understand the cultural nuances of Indian naming patterns. This enables comprehensive protection for Indian personal data while supporting business operations.
Understanding DPDP Act
The Digital Personal Data Protection Act establishes India's privacy framework:
Personal Data:
- Any data about an individual who is identifiable by or in relation to such data
- Digital personal data: personal data in digital form
- Includes both direct identifiers and indirect identifiers
Key DPDP Principles:
- Lawful purpose limitation
- Purpose limitation and data minimization
- Data accuracy requirements
- Storage limitation
- Security safeguards
- Accountability
Data Principal Rights:
- Right to access personal data
- Right to correction and erasure
- Right to grievance redressal
- Right to nominate
Aadhaar Number Detection
India's unique identification number requires careful handling:
Aadhaar Format:
Format: XXXX XXXX XXXX (12 digits)
Example: 2345 6789 0123
Structure:
- 12 digits with space separations
- First digit cannot be 0 or 1
- Last digit is Verhoeff checksum
Verhoeff Algorithm Validation:
- Uses dihedral group D5 multiplication
- Permutation table for digit positions
- Inverse table for check digit calculation
Valid: 499118665246 (passes Verhoeff)
Invalid: 499118665247 (fails Verhoeff)
Masked Aadhaar Format:
// UIDAI guidelines recommend masking
Full: 2345 6789 0123
Masked: XXXX XXXX 0123 (last 4 visible)
// Our redaction options:
"full_redact": "[AADHAAR]"
"masked": "XXXX-XXXX-0123"
"last_4": "****0123"
Detection Patterns:
// Various formats in documents
2345 6789 0123
234567890123
2345-6789-0123
Aadhaar: 2345 6789 0123
आधार: २३४५ ६७८९ ०१२३
PAN Card Detection
Permanent Account Number for tax purposes:
PAN Format:
Format: AAAAA9999A (5 letters + 4 digits + 1 letter)
Example: ABCDE1234F
Structure:
- Position 1-3: Alphabetic series (AAA-ZZZ)
- Position 4: Entity type
- P: Individual (Person)
- C: Company
- H: HUF (Hindu Undivided Family)
- F: Firm
- A: AOP (Association of Persons)
- T: Trust
- B: BOI (Body of Individuals)
- L: Local Authority
- J: Artificial Juridical Person
- G: Government
- Position 5: First letter of surname/name
- Position 6-9: Sequential number (0001-9999)
- Position 10: Alphabetic check digit
Example breakdown:
ABCPD1234E
- ABC: Random letters
- P: Individual
- D: First letter of surname
- 1234: Sequential number
- E: Check digit
Other Indian Identifiers
Voter ID (EPIC):
Format: AAA9999999 (3 letters + 7 digits)
Example: XYZ1234567
Structure:
- First 3 letters: State/area code
- 7 digits: Sequential number
State codes vary by Election Commission assignment
Driving License:
Format: SS-RRYYYYNNNNNNN
Example: KA-0120191234567
Structure:
- SS: State code (KA=Karnataka, MH=Maharashtra, etc.)
- RR: RTO code
- YYYY: Year of issue
- NNNNNNN: Sequential number
Formats vary slightly by state
Passport Number:
Format: A9999999 (1 letter + 7 digits)
Example: J8765432
Structure:
- First letter: Type/series
- 7 digits: Sequential number
GSTIN:
Format: 99AAAAA9999A9Z9 (15 characters)
Example: 27AAPFU0939F1ZV
Structure:
- Position 1-2: State code (01-37)
- Position 3-12: PAN number
- Position 13: Entity number within state for same PAN
- Position 14: Z (default)
- Position 15: Check digit
Contains embedded PAN (positions 3-12)
Indian Name Detection
Indian names follow diverse patterns:
Naming Conventions:
// North Indian (Hindu)
Format: [Given name] [Father's name] [Surname]
Example: Rajesh Kumar Sharma
// South Indian (no surname tradition)
Format: [Initial(s)]. [Given name] or [Father's name] [Given name]
Example: K. Venkatesh, Ramachandran Suresh
// Sikh names
Format: [Given name] Singh/Kaur [Optional surname]
Example: Harpreet Singh Sandhu
// Muslim names
Format: [Given name] [Father's/Family name]
Example: Mohammed Irfan Khan
// Bengali names
Format: [Given name] [Surname]
Example: Sougata Chatterjee
Name Detection Approach:
// Multi-pattern detection
- Database of common Indian first names (5000+)
- Database of Indian surnames/family names
- Religious/community-specific patterns
- Initials handling (Dr. K.V. Rao)
- Honorifics: Shri, Smt, Sri, Kumar, Kumari
// Both English and Devanagari
Rajesh Kumar Sharma
राजेश कुमार शर्मा
Multilingual Support
Support for major Indian languages:
Supported Scripts:
Hindi (Devanagari): हिन्दी
Bengali: বাংলা
Telugu: తెలుగు
Marathi (Devanagari): मराठी
Tamil: தமிழ்
Gujarati: ગુજરાતી
Kannada: ಕನ್ನಡ
Malayalam: മലയാളം
Punjabi (Gurmukhi): ਪੰਜਾਬੀ
Odia: ଓଡ଼ିଆ
Cross-Script Detection:
// Same identifier in different scripts
Aadhaar: 234567890123
आधार: २३४५६७८९०१२३
// Transliteration handling
राजेश शर्मा = Rajesh Sharma
// Mixed-language documents
"Customer राजेश शर्मा का Aadhaar 2345 6789 0123 है"
Detected: Name (राजेश शर्मा), Aadhaar (2345 6789 0123)
Indian Phone Numbers
// Mobile numbers
Format: +91 XXXXX XXXXX (10 digits)
Prefixes: 6, 7, 8, 9 (mobile)
Examples:
+91 98765 43210
9876543210
+91-9876543210
// Landlines
Format: +91 [STD code] [Number]
Delhi: +91 11 2345 6789
Mumbai: +91 22 2345 6789
// STD codes vary by city (2-4 digits)
Indian Address Format
// Standard Indian address
[Door/Flat No], [Building/House Name]
[Street/Road Name]
[Area/Locality]
[City] - [PIN Code]
[State]
Example:
123, Sunrise Apartments
MG Road, Koramangala
Bangalore - 560034
Karnataka
// PIN code format: 6 digits
// First digit: Region (1-8)
// Second digit: Sub-region
// Third digit: Sorting district
// Last 3: Specific post office
PIN 560034:
- 5: South India
- 6: Karnataka
- 0: Bangalore region
- 034: Specific area
Financial Identifiers
Bank Account Numbers:
// Indian bank accounts: 9-18 digits
// Format varies by bank
// IFSC Code (for bank transfers)
Format: AAAA0NNNNNN (11 characters)
Example: SBIN0001234
Structure:
- First 4: Bank code (SBIN=SBI, HDFC=HDFC Bank)
- Fifth: Always 0
- Last 6: Branch code
// UPI ID
Format: username@bankhandle
Example: name@okaxis, phone@ybl
Industry Compliance
Sector-specific Indian regulations:
Banking (RBI Guidelines):
- Data localization requirements
- KYC data protection
- Payment data security (PCI DSS)
Healthcare:
- Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM)
- Health ID (ABHA) protection
- Electronic health records standards
Telecom (TRAI):
- Subscriber data protection
- Call data record handling
- Location data restrictions
API Configuration
POST /v1/redact
{
"text": "Customer: Rajesh Sharma, Aadhaar: 2345 6789 0123, PAN: ABCPD1234E",
"country": "IN",
"redaction_types": ["aadhaar", "pan", "voter_id", "name", "phone", "address"],
"options": {
"validate_checksums": true,
"aadhaar_format": "masked",
"languages": ["en", "hi"]
}
}
Response:
{
"redacted_text": "Customer: [NAME], Aadhaar: XXXX-XXXX-0123, PAN: [PAN]",
"detections": [
{
"type": "name",
"value": "Rajesh Sharma",
"confidence": 0.95
},
{
"type": "aadhaar",
"value": "2345 6789 0123",
"valid_checksum": true,
"masked": "XXXX-XXXX-0123",
"confidence": 0.99
},
{
"type": "pan",
"value": "ABCPD1234E",
"entity_type": "Individual",
"confidence": 0.98
}
],
"compliance": ["DPDP_Act"]
}
