Big Brother in India plans fingerprint IDs for billion-plus citizens

[Pastor Dale Morgan]

*Life With Big Brother...

Big Brother in India plans fingerprint IDs for billion-plus citizens*

by Staff Writers
New Delhi (AFP) Nov 16, 2009

India's 1.16 billion people are each to receive their own identity
number under a monumental plan designed to cut corruption and improve
distribution of state benefits.

The project -- modelled on social security numbers in the United States
-- will compile an Internet database of the personal details,
fingerprints and photograph of every Indian across the vast and chaotic
country.

Responsible for turning the dream into reality is Nandan Nilekani,
co-founder of India's giant software firm Infosys, who was handpicked
for the task by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"We are aiming to provide online authentication for all Indian
residents," Nilekani, 54, told AFP. "We hope to provide 600 million
people with numbers by 2014."

Nilekani, head of the newly formed Unique Identity Authority of India,
described collating the data as like "building something on the scale of
Google".

He said he could not give a date when it would be completed, but vowed
that the job would get done.

The 16-digit number will be the one-stop proof for all Indians to
establish their identity, eliminating the current need to produce
multiple personal documents even for something as simple as getting a
pre-paid mobile phone.

Eventually all new-born children will be issued with an ID number, and
eye-scan technology will also be introduced in the long-term.

"We need one single non-duplicate way of identifying a person and we
need a mechanism by which we can authenticate anywhere that someone is
who they say they are," Nilekani said.

"Once you say your name and put your finger on a fingerprint reader, the
information will show the truth.

"This number is an enabler for all kinds of things, and will be used by
different government agencies in different ways."

Supporters of the ID plan say it will improve efficiency and cut out the
reams of paperwork.

But critics predict it will be impossible to compile an accurate,
updated record of India's teeming millions and that the database will be
prone to abuse by both government and individuals.

"I am not sure how people in rural areas -- where education levels are
low -- will relate to these unique identity numbers," said Sanjay Kumar,
of the Delhi-based Centre for the Study of Developing Societies.

"Awareness among rural people about the numbers and use of
fingerprinting is low. I also think it is difficult to cover the entire
rural population."

Bolstering the sceptics' argument is the estimated multi-billion dollar
cost of the scheme -- and Nilekani's refusal to discuss budget figures.

"It is a joke," said Colin Gonzalves, a lawyer with the New Delhi-based
Human Rights Law Network.

"A country that can't ensure food for 70 percent of its population is
planning a scheme like this. It is purely a surveillance mechanism."

But Arjun Sengupta, author of a 2007 government study that found 836
million Indians living on less than 20 rupees (43 cents) a day, said ID
numbers would help tackle poverty.

"I think it has the potential to ensure subsidies meant for the poor
reach them," he said.

According to government figures, only seven percent of Indians have a
Permanent Account Number, which is used to collect income tax.

Much official business in India is still carried out using triplicate,
hand-written forms rather than computers, causing countless confusions,
errors and delays.

Swapan Garain, a professor at the Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social
Sciences, also pointed to numerous allegations that money or jobs meant
for the underprivileged are routinely siphoned off by corrupt officials.

"The unique identity number will track the money and the people in the
system and ensure service is delivered to the right target," he said.
"The government has woken up to the needs of the invisible masses."

The database will be developed from India's voter registration lists --
which contained about 714 million names for this year's general election
-- and the first ID number is expected to be issued within 12 months.

Raman Roy, a pioneer among India's IT industry and head of Quatrro
Consulting, dismissed worries about hackers sabotaging the database.

"Given Nandan's expertise, I am sure he will have adequate security
features in place. He also has plans to make it commercially viable --
charging a nominal fee for all those wanting to access the database.

"But that's in the future. Now what we need to worry about is the volume
of information that the system will have to handle," he said.

"It's a huge challenge. Nowhere in the world is there a database
one-tenth of the size. Are we up to it? Yes, we are."