In the next few years, each man, woman and child will receive an “Aadhaar” 12-digit unique identification number. For the poor in India, this would end a vicious cycle where a person cannot prove who they are, and thus they are denied what they are supposed to receive. Now, using the features of the body, technology can identify someone in a matter of seconds. There will no longer be a need for passports, driver licenses, or other old school paper based identification.
The goal is to enroll 600 million Indians in four years. Since the first enrollments in September 2010, the government has issued more than 200 million people an Aadhaar number – which is a population larger than any European nation.
Ultimately, the success of the program is not about the performance of technology, but the efforts of the people behind it. The same systems that can bring accountability and transparency can be used for mass-surveillance and digitized discrimination. Privacy laws are still outdated and ineffective. With so many different government agencies now able to store and access personal information, the potential for abuse looms large. Biometric identification has long been used for security purposes – now India will show the world how it can also be used to offer hundreds of millions their greatest chance at inclusion and a prosperous life.
On display for the world to see and to recognize the benefits of biometric identification and it's multitude of applications. Despite the positive uses we do know that once these technologies are used and accepted by the masses then their is no going back. For our greater good or for someone else's greater control? Maybe people are willing to accept that if it benefits their lives, just think about it...
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