Facebook has begun testing a feature with a set
of new users in India where they are being asked to enter names as per their
Aadhaar details.
The social media giant, however,
is not asking new users to give their Aadhaar number but just the name as
written on their Aadhaar cards.
"This is a small test where we provide
additional language when people sign up for an account to say that using the name
on their Aadhaar card makes it easier for friends to recognise them," a
Facebook spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday.
Currently, only a small percentage
of people who use Facebook on mobile in the country are able to see this
feature.
"This is an optional prompt which we are
testing," the spokesperson added.
The move is aimed at encouraging
users to put their real names as they enter the social network for the first
time.
"We want to make sure people can use the names
they're known by on Facebook, and can easily connect with friends and
family," Facebook said.
Facebook has over 217 million
monthly active users in India and 212 million of them are active on smartphones.
It has 2.1 billion monthly active
users globally.
Facebook-owned WhatsApp has over
200 million monthly active users in India.
The Facebook test comes at a time
when the government is asking citizens to link Aadhaar details with their
digital lives.