Page 29 - Proceedings of the 2017 ITU Kaleidoscope

OPEN DATA & DIGITAL IDENTITY: LESSONS FOR AADHAAR

2
1
Vinod Kotwal , Smriti Parsheera , and Amba Kak 3

1 Ministry of Communications and IT, India
2 National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, India
3 Mozilla Foundation, India

ABSTRACT companies to query the database for authenticating users.
Its ability to ‘uniquely’ identify individuals based on their
Aadhaar, the largest biometric identification system in the biometric / demographic information and Aadhaar numbers
world, has been lauded for its promise to bring efficiencies is the stated basis for the government’s push to integrate
to government service delivery, and the stimulus to private Aadhaar across (and even beyond) government services.
sector innovation. However, its claims have been contested, Over the years, Aadhaar numbers have been linked to the
and criticized for excesses in terms of potential threats to transfer of direct cash benefits under schemes like public
privacy on account of the vulnerabilities of biometric data, distribution of food grains, employment guarantee benefits,
mandatory linkage with numerous schemes and the mid-day meals in schools, LPG subsidies, etc. It has also
possibility of mass surveillance through linked databases. come to be widely used as identification proof for availing
Even as the debate continues, every day, large volumes of services like banking and finance, digital payments and
data are being generated through the use of Aadhaar- utility connections, among others.
enabled authentication and eKYC systems, both by Despite this rapid proliferation, the goals and architecture
government as well as private entities. There has been of the project have been met with growing resistance. The
relatively less exploration of the resulting ‘open data’ Supreme Court of India is currently hearing a series of
potential of Aadhaar and the manner in which it can petitions challenging the constitutionality of Aadhaar, its
contribute to research, policymaking as well as compulsory linkage for the delivery of government
strengthening accountability of the Aadhaar authority benefits, potential for exclusion of beneficiaries; and impact
(UIDAI) itself. The challenge is to find ways to nudge on privacy, among others. These hearings recently led to a
UIDAI and all users of Aadhaar towards greater sharing of pronouncement by a nine judge bench of the Indian
data, in privacy-protecting ways that do not create risks for Supreme Court that there exists a fundamental right to
Aadhaar-number holders. At this stage, we lean towards privacy in India, which cannot be denied except through a
aggregate statistics as a means to open data while fair, just and reasonable procedure established by law. The
following the strictest standards of privacy. Court also spoke of other tests to question the existence of a
legitimate state aim and proportionality of the measure to
Keywords — Aadhaar, digital identity, open data, privacy achieve that aim (Bhandari et al, 2017 [3]). These tests will
now be applied for testing the constitutionality of Aadhaar.
While the judicial determination of these issues remains
1. INTRODUCTION pending, the Aadhaar database continues to be encouraged
by the government and UIDAI as the focal point of a
Aadhaar, meaning foundation, refers to a 12-digit random rapidly evolving data ecosystem. Hence there is a need to
identification number issued by the Unique Identification examine the data emanating from the Aadhaar system, and
Authority of India (UIDAI). Originally established under an its varied uses. Aadhaar is a publicly funded resource, and
executive order in January, 2009, UIDAI came to become a as such, there is a strong case for promoting the disclosure
statutory body under the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of of data points that can facilitate research, sound policy
Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, making as well strengthen the accountability of the UIDAI
2016 (“Aadhaar Act”). The project currently holds a itself.
biometric database of more than 1,150 million individuals. In this paper, we (i) identify the various streams of data
Covering over 85 percent of India’s population, it is the generated both by the Aadhaar system, as well as its varied
largest national biometric database in the world. applications across sectors; (ii) identify the existing
From its inception, Aadhaar was a unique government incentives for public and private sector to create open data;
project - in part due to its collaboration with technologists and (iii) suggest principles and an implementation
and entrepreneurs, and a focus on the potential applications framework to guide the release of more open data through
or use-cases the Aadhaar could lend itself to. This is also Aadhaar.
reflected in its API-based architecture that allows private

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