UID-AADHAR

What is Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and where does it get its authority from?

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) was constituted as an attached office under the Planning
Commission of India, to develop and implement the necessary legal, technical and institutional infrastructure to
issue unique identity to residents of India. On 25 June 2009, the Cabinet approved the creation of the position
of a Chairperson of UIDAI, and appointed Mr. Nandan Nilekani as the first Chairperson with the rank of the
Cabinet Minister. On 3 August 2009, the Prime Minister constituted a Council under his chairmanship to advise
the UIDAI and ensure coordination between the ministries, departments, stakeholders and partners. The council
will advise the UIDAI on the program, methodology and implementation to ensure this coordination. The
council will also identify specific milestones for the early completion of the project.

Cabinet Committee on UID Authority – The Government of India issued orders constituting the Cabinet
Committee on UID Authority on 22 October 2009. The committee is headed by the honourable Prime Minister
and consists of the Minister of Finance, Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public
Distribution, Minister of Home Affairs, Minister of External Affairs, Minister of Law and Justice, Minister of
Communications and Information Technology, Minister of Labour and Employment, Minister of Human
Resource Development, Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Minister of Housing and Urban
Poverty Alleviation and Minister of Tourism. The Deputy Chairman Planning Commission and Chairman
UIDAI are special invitees. The functions of the Committee, which is headed by the honourable PM would be
as follows :
All issues relating to the UIDAI including its organisation, plans, policies, programmes, schemes, funding and
methodology to be adopted for achieving the objectives of that Authority.

What are the biometric details that will be captured by UIDAI?

UIDAI has mandated the capture of ten fingerprints,iris image and face image as a part of the enrolment process

How will children be captured in the database?

The biometric information of young children is not stable. However, it is crucial to capture children in the
database. Children's fingerprint, image and photograph will be taken and updated in the Aadhaar database every
5 years until the age of 18 . This will be enforced by an expiry-date attached to Aadhaar, which will become
invalid after the expiry date. Until the time the biometric of the child stabilises, any one of the parents/guardian
will need to provide their biometric information for authentication.

What is Aadhaar?

Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique number which will be issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India
(UIDAI) to all residents of the country. It's a step towards putting India in the club of more than 50 countries
around the world that have some form of national identity cards. These include most of continental Europe (not
the UK), China, Brazil, Japan, Iran, Israel and Indonesia. The number will be stored in a centralized database
and linked to the basic demographics and biometric information photograph, ten fingerprints and iris of each
individual. The number will be unique and would be available for online and offline verification and, hence,
will rule out the possibility of duplicate and fake identities from government as well as various private
databases.

Benefits of Biometrics

The project will rule out frauds by employing biometric techniques. Biometrics comprises of methods for
uniquely recognizing humans based upon intrinsic physiological or behavioural traits. Generally, biometric
characteristics are divided into two main classes: physiological or those based on fingerprints, face, DNA, palm
prints, iris recognition; and behavioural, which can include anything from gait or voice to typing rhythm.

Aadhaar will use physiological traits — fingerprints and iris — to issue the unique identities. The iris
recognition is included because the project is aimed at encompassing every resident, which includes children for
whom fingerprints might not be a reliable identification and people working at places like fireworks factories
and some plantations who have got their fingerprints rubbed off.

Benefits of the unique identification number

One of the key challenges faced by people in India is difficulty in establishing identity. People have multiple
identity documents, each serving a different purpose. The most important characteristic of Aadhaar is its
universality and it is assumed that the biometric card with the number will be gradually accepted across the
country as the identification number by all service providers and government agencies. It is assumed by the
UIDAI that the card will increase the trust between private and public agencies and reduce the denial of services
to people who have no identification. The number will also hopefully reduce the hassle of repeatedly proving
identity by various documents to avail services like opening a bank account and obtaining passport or driving
licence and so on. For the people living below the poverty line and the ones who are entitled to various
government-run welfare programmes, the number and the biometric data will help in identifying the
beneficiaries.

Is it mandatory or voluntary?

Considering privacy concerns, UIDAI has kept provision of voluntary registration at enrolment camps to obtain
the number. Critics, however, argue that once the programme gets linked to welfare programmes, the PDS
system and availing of various services, it will lose its true voluntary nature. Hence, it's also important to have
stringent laws to prevent denial of service in such situations.

Concept

Aadhaar: The UID brand name and logo

The brand name of the Unique Identification number (UID) will be Aadhaar. The name and logo for the unique
numbers to be issued by the UIDAI have been developed keeping in mind the transformational potential of the
program. Together, they communicate the essence and spirit of the UIDAI's mandate to people across the
country.

The UIDAI's mandate is to issue every resident a unique identification number linked to the resident's
demographic and biometric information, which they can use to identify themselves anywhere in India, and to
access a host of benefits and services. The number (referred to until now as the 'UID') has been named Aadhaar,
which translates into 'foundation', or 'support'. This word is present across most Indian languages and can
therefore be used in branding and communication of the UIDAI program across the country.

As Mr. Nandan Nilekani, Chairman of the UIDAI notes, "The name Aadhaar communicates the fundamental
role of the number issued by the UIDAI the number as a universal identity infrastructure, a foundation over
which public and private agencies can build services and applications that benefit residents across India."

Aadhaar's guarantee of uniqueness and centralised, online identity verification would be the basis for building
these multiple services and applications, and facilitating greater connectivity to markets

Aadhaar would also give any resident the ability to access these services and resources, anytime, anywhere in
the country

Aadhaar can for example, provide the identity infrastructure for ensuring financial inclusion across the country
– banks can link the unique number to a bank account for every resident, and use the online identity
authentication to allow residents to access the account from anywhere in the country

Aadhaar would also be a foundation for the effective enforcement of individual rights. A clear registration and
recognition of the individual's identity with the state is necessary to implement their rights –to employment,
education, food, etc. The number, by ensuring such registration and recognition of individuals, would help the
state deliver these rights.

The Logo

The design, which has been selected as the logo for Aadhaar, is a sun in red and yellow, with a fingerprint
traced across its centre. The logo effectively communicates the vision for Aadhaar. It represents a new dawn of
equal opportunity for each individual, a dawn which emerges from the unique identity the number guarantees
for each individual.TopCompetition

In February 2010, the UIDAI launched a nation-wide logo competition for Aadhaar. In the following weeks,
over 2000 entries were received from across the country.
The criteria for deciding the winning entry were:

The logo should bring out the essence of the UIDAI's purpose and goals

The logo should communicate that Aadhaar is a transformational opportunity for individuals across the country,
and that it is one that will equalize access to services and resources for the poor

The logo should be one that can be easily understood and communicated across the country

The vast majority of logo designs received for the competition, were innovative and of extremely high quality.
The submitted designs were evaluated by the Awareness and Communication Strategy Advisory Council
(ACSAC), an advisory group for the UIDAI consisting of renowned communication experts.

The Council short listed the finalists based on the stated criteria. "We faced a very difficult decision in selecting
the finalists and the eventual winner," Mr. Kiran Khalap, a member of the Council says, "Thankfully, we had
agreed to a set of criteria for selection that minimized subjectivity and bias."

Will there be a card issued? How will the resident know what his/her number is?

No card will be issued by the UIDAI, but the resident will receive a letter from the UIDAI giving the person the
Aadhaar and the information of the person that was collected. If there are any inaccuracies in the information,
the person can get them corrected them. There will be a tear away portion in the letter that can act as a card for
referencing the number. The Registrar may issue a card for their purpose in which they may include the
Aadhaar.

Why no card?

The UIDAI is focused on the identity of the person and not the identity of the document. The best match is the
individual’s biometric identity and a card cannot be a substitute. The UID can only establish unique identity if
authentication is done in the central database. Further, cards can be forged, stolen, faked and identity process be
diluted. While the UIDIA only guarantees online authentication, the service providers are free to issue cards to
people if it serves their purpose

What is the process that will be followed to issue a Aadhaar?

A resident will have to go to an enrolling agency, fill up an application form and provide the supporting
documentation including photo and finger print including photo, all tenfingerprints and both irs scan.

The enrolling agency will collect this information and send the data, either in single or in batches, to the
registrar who will pass this on to the Aadhaar database.

The system will engage in a de-duplication exercise.

If the individual is not already in the database, a Aadhaar will be issued and sent to the person at his/has
residence. The Aadhaar will also be sent to the Registrar for use in their service database.

If the individual is already in the database the registration will be rejected and the person will be informed of the
same.

The Registrar will scan the supporting documents and send it to the UIDAI and keep the physical copies with it.

In what language will the database be maintained? In what language will authentication services be
provided? In what language will communication between UIDAI and the resident take place?
The database will be maintained in English. The communication between resident and UIDAI will be in English
and the local language.

Criticisms

The main criticism of the UID is based on privacy concerns. The project is criticized because, unlike Western
countries, India is not known for stringent data protection laws and the opposing group fears data theft and
selling of the vital information to a third party by corrupt officials. Apart from this, they argue, it's an
individual's right to protect his or her privacy from any unlawful interference, even by the state. Article 21 of
the Constitution, the Hindu Marriage Act, the Copyright Act, Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children)
Act, 2000 and the Code of Criminal Procedure all place some form of restrictions on the release of personal
information.

The Aadhaar or UID project has grave implications for every Indian.

It will enable the government to profile every citizen and track their movements and transactions.

There is no guarantee that intimate personal information -- pre-existing illnesses, romantic relationships etc --
won't be shared with other agencies, warns Praful Bidwai.

On the one hand, UIDAI officials claim Aadhaar will accurately target the poor and break the barriers that
prevent them from accessing services.

On the other, UIDAI openly says it's 'in the identity business. The responsibility of tracking beneficiaries and...
service delivery will continue to remain with the respective agencies. The UID number will only guarantee
identity, not rights, benefits or entitlements.'

The Aadhaar project has grave civil liberty implications. It will enable the government to profile citizens and
track their movements and transactions.

There is no guarantee that intimately personal details -- pre-existing illnesses, romantic relationships,
anonymous donations -- won't be shared with other agencies.

The designated registrars include private operators as well as state governments, the Life Insurance Corporation
and banks.

Also involved are multinational firms like Ernst and Young and Accenture. Already, Apollo Hospital has
applied for managing the health records in the Aadhaar database.

That is not all. The draft NIAI Bill says the authority will maintain details of every request for identity
authentication and that identity information may be disclosed in the interests of 'national security'. These clauses
permit the tracking of citizens.

Experience shows that whenever the government gets excessive authority, it is misused. That is what happened
with our anti-terrorism acts and is happening with the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and Public Safety Act
in numerous states.

Excessive reliance on technology, especially to tackle special problems like corruption, can be disastrous.
Technologies can fail.

Biometric readings can go wrong if power supply fails -- as happens virtually daily in most of India. Biometric
readings may produce misleading results, as the authority admits, 'in Indian environmental conditions
(extremely hot and humid climate and facilities without air-conditioning).'

People with low-quality fingerprints (construction workers) and with cataract/corneal problems can pose
problems for fingerprints and iris scans.
Between 10 and 60 million people could be excluded from UID due to such errors.

Aadhaar poses serious data security problems. ID card schemes, says a London [ Images ] School of Economics
study, are 'too complex', technically unproven and 'unsafe'.

All kinds of supposedly secure databases/Web sites, including those of India's defence ministry and the
Pentagon have been hacked. Data theft and transfer to intelligence agencies or corporations have potentially
horrendous consequences.

That is one reason why many countries including the UK, US and Australia have abandoned national ID cards.
Another is the high cost.

According to reports, UID's per person cost is estimated to have jumped from Rs 31 to between Rs 450 and Rs
500. Aadhaar will therefore probably cost something like Rs 150,000 crore (Rs 1.5 trillion).

The Planning Commission is already allotting it Rs 35,000 crore to Rs 45,000 crore (Rs 350 billion to Rs 450
billion) over the next five years to cover only half the population. This is astronomical for a scheme with
dubious benefits.

Yet, the Aadhaar project is being pushed through without a legal basis, and without public or parliamentary
debate.

UIDAI was created by an administrative order -- and before any proof of concept studies were commissioned.
Aadhaar numbers are being rolled out even before the relevant bill is tabled in Parliament.