Life without Aadhaar digital identity in India
The article critiques Aadhaar's non-mandatory yet pervasive use in India, highlighting barriers faced by individuals without it, legal concerns, and risks to privacy and identity, urging government accountability.
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The article discusses the pervasive reliance on Aadhaar, India's biometric identification system, despite its non-mandatory status. The author, Kiran Jonnalagadda, shares personal experiences illustrating the challenges faced by individuals without an Aadhaar number, including difficulties in purchasing a car, obtaining insurance, and securing home loans. He highlights how various institutions, including banks and schools, insist on Aadhaar for processes that should not require it, leading to a sense of coercion. Jonnalagadda argues that while Aadhaar was intended to provide a unified identity, its implementation has resulted in significant complications, such as the exclusion of individuals from essential services and financial systems. He emphasizes the legal and ethical issues surrounding Aadhaar's mandatory use, noting ongoing court challenges and the impact on citizens' rights. The article also touches on the broader implications of this reliance on a single identification system, including the risks of identity theft and the erosion of privacy. Ultimately, Jonnalagadda calls for accountability from the government and advocates for the protection of individual rights against coercive practices.
- Aadhaar is often required for transactions despite being non-mandatory.
- Individuals without Aadhaar face significant barriers in accessing services and financial products.
- The implementation of Aadhaar raises legal and ethical concerns regarding privacy and individual rights.
- Ongoing court challenges highlight the contentious nature of Aadhaar's mandatory use.
- The reliance on Aadhaar increases the risk of identity theft and fraud.
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- Many commenters acknowledge the efficiency Aadhaar brings to bureaucratic processes but express concerns about its mandatory nature and potential misuse.
- Privacy and identity issues are central to the discussion, with some arguing that Aadhaar compromises individual privacy and can lead to exclusion.
- There is skepticism about the government's trustworthiness in managing such a centralized system, given its history of corruption.
- Some commenters draw parallels between Aadhaar and identity systems in other countries, questioning why Aadhaar is viewed differently.
- Concerns are raised about the accessibility of Aadhaar for marginalized populations, highlighting systemic barriers to obtaining it.
17 commentsThis is what I referred. But never come across a situation where it was followed. Many cases were not progressing without aadhaar.
This is necessary because of massive corruption in distribution of wealth in such schemes, where the actual beneficiary gets just 20 bucks or so for very 100 bucks allotted by the govt.
It has slowly transformed into an identity in itself, which is wrong. However, with 1.5 billion people, what other alternative is there? Any and all solutions end up looking like a centralized identity system.
They said that all your other IDs will be made invalid if you don't "opt-in" to Aadhaar. They essentially blocked you from using all pre-existing, valid IDs. They now in this ingratiating way ask us, don't you see the convenience?
having lived as an outsider in other countries, many considered as beacons of public freedom, i found a universal id system in almost all of the cases. there were also some cyclical dependency issues that are hard to break without having one by just getting it done for you by your parents or something. this is where i struggle to understand why in those contexts an id like this is completely acceptable but not for indians?
i do still agree on the front that this is not a bulletproof system, and misuse/abuse still exists. the local tax id (pan) is no longer accepted as valid id because in the past many got it made through non-legit means. but when non-person entities (from pets to deities) are sometimes assigned one in one-off cases, there can be some skepticism on the original goal for the project.
about biometrics, that argument seems weak coming from those who are expats and gave up theirs for their visas. but the one about mandating it to all is something i'd personally thought to stop thinking too much about.
It is very hard to do business with, or deliver services to someone when you cannot verify their identity.
You can pretty much google up and download millions of Aadhar directly from the web.
Digital identities are a natural step since we need to digitalize the society and so we need to have digital IDs like we need physical ones.
The point though it's another, or when imposing them and how. In a country where 99% of homes could be connected and most have already internet access, where a large slice of population use computers every day, so elderly typically have relatives who can help, and those who really need help are few enough there is no problem helping them directly it's a thing. Imposing them (even worse than de jure, but de facto) in a country where a large slice of population have not even a home with an address and ordinary services it's definitively another.
India's digital strategy, the 100 smart city program etc are just fascist move to cut off a large slice of population for whom the ruler count to have no option to accommodate in a new society. And it's not much different than various imposition we witness in the west, a small step at a time, more softly.
So you end up spending a lot of time educating these people, who aren’t really interested in the ideological issues.
[Semi-offtopic] Just my favorite pet peeve: Identity cannot be given - it's an inherent, innate property of the individual. Or a group. So, as I get it, Aadhaar is not an identity, it's a credential ("ID" is not a great term). Government (or anyone else other than oneself) doesn't give anyone an identity, they merely authenticate your identity and issue or certify a credential.
Language is a mess, and that's why I felt important to leave this comment - just to put my two cents against all the confusion that already exist out there. I recently saw a joke that says "auth" is short for "it's either authentication or authorization but I don't remember the difference right now" and it seems so relevant :-)
And, yes, I believe the term "identity provider" is a perversion of nature - a blatant attempt at what should be called "identity theft" (instead of what the industry calls "identity theft").
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