Home > Life

India's controversial biometric ID card system could become the only one

There's no way out, anymore.

Manish Singh

on March 23, 2017

India's controversial biometric ID card system could become the only one

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Piyal Adhikary/Epa/REX/Shutterstock (7959795a) An Indian Boy Has His Photograph Taken For His Unique Identification Card Or 'Aadhaar' in Calcutta Eastern India 26 October 2013 Unique 12-digit Id Numbers Are Being Issued by the Indian Government to Indian Residents As Proof of Identity According to Recent Media Reports the Program Will Generate the Largest Database of Identities in the World India Calcutta India Unique Identification Card - Oct 2013 Credit: Adhikary/Epa/REX/Shutterstock

If you were waiting for the Indian government to slow down (or completely stop) with its push to bring Aadhaar biometric identity system into your lives, don’t hold your breath.

Started as an optional program, in the recent years, the government has upped the ante and has made it mandatory to use Aadhar card in order to access other services.

As has been the case in the past, the decision was immediately met with sharp criticism.

But the government is now clarifying that it won’t be withdrawing its move, giving its citizens yet another look at how it intends to move forward with its biometric system.

India’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in Lok Sabha this week that that the new bill to make it mandatory for every taxpayer to link their unique 12-digit code and biometric information will go into effect from July 1.

Mashable Trend Report

Decode what’s viral, what’s next, and what it all means.

By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Thanks for signing up!

Addressing the criticism, Jaitley said the move will help the government zero-in on citizens who don’t pay taxes.

"Today 98 percent citizens have Aadhaar. They can either give the Aadhaar number or mention that they have applied for Aadhaar — but the government won't allow them to evade tax," Jaitley said.

He added that Aadhaar could become the only identity card in the future, replacing the existing voter ID card, and PAN card among others.

Though nobody is denying that the government should take actions against tax evaders, it's the way Aadhar is being implemented that irks many.

And there's good reason to be skeptical about an Aadhaar card. The government will use the card to store a person’s biometric data like fingerprints, iris data and other personal information.

And according to numerous security and privacy experts, Aadhaar’s infrastructure is prone to hacking and it's surprisingly easy to replicate the biometric information.