Contrary to reports, Facebook isn't linking Aadhaar number with user accounts in India, the social media giant has clarified via a blog post. "We are not collecting Aadhaar data and do not require people to enter their Aadhaar name when they sign up to Facebook," it reiterated denying all the reports that said the social media platform now required people's Aadhaar information when they sign up for a Facebook account. At the same time, it said that the prompt to "use the name on your Aadhaar card" was part of a brief test and was intended for new users to put up their actual names so friends and family can easily find them on the platform.

"The goal of this test was to help new users understand how to sign up to Facebook with their real name and connect with their friends and family. At the point of account sign-up, users who were part of the test saw language that said, "using the name on your Aadhaar card makes it easier for friends to recognize you." This is an optional prompt that we were testing. People were not required to enter the name on their Aadhaar card, and there is no integration or authentication with Aadhaar," the company said in a blog post.

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Controversy began when Facebook started testing use of Aadhaar as an example to encourage new users in India to put forth their real names while signing-up. The move was seemingly aimed at curbing the number of fake accounts on the social media platform in Facebook's second largest market after the US.

The test, which was apparently limited to Facebook's mobile site, prompted new users to use 'name as per Aadhaar' to make it 'easier for friends to recognise you.' The test has now been concluded, according to Facebook and the company currently have no plans to roll this test out further.

"The test ran with a small number of users in India and has now finished. As with all tests, we may learn new things that help us provide a better sign-up experience for people joining Facebook, but we currently have no plans to roll this test out further."