IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2015 - 15

A second stated ambition is that
of reducing leakage in the system. Mr.
Nilekani refers to himself as a plumber, plugging the leaks. No one would
deny the pervasive corruption that
has blighted many systems of distribution. The RTI, "transparency walls,"
public hearings, the use of technology
to computerize, communicate, and
monitor the movement of goods and
grain, the opening of post office and
bank accounts for payment of NREGA
wages, the use of mobile phones to
let people know when their rations
limits are reached so that they may
watch and collect their entitlements,
the use of GPS to track the movement of vehicles carrying grain to the
shops - these have already greatly
improved systems.
The UIDAI, however, suggests that
salvation lies elsewhere -in a centralized system of identification. Allegedly this would do away with duplicates
and ghost beneficiaries. There is, of
course, no evidence as to the extent
of the leakage, and what the savings would therefore be. In fact, the
first paper attempting to explain that
the UID would reduce leakage was
published by the National Institute
of Public Finance and Policy [9].
The paper is littered with assumptions for, as they admit, there isn't
any data in some areas and, in others, the data is outdated. In addition,
contrary to Mr. Nilekani's assertion
at the talk in April 2013 that this
was an "independent study," scholars at the NIPFP have admitted to
"the group's research affiliations with
the UIDAI should preferably have
been made in the study itself." How
many are aware of the One Time
Passwords (OTP) which are to be
used to "manual(ly) override" when
the biometric identification fails [10]?
When fingerprints or iris fail to recognize a person, for whatever reason,
a request can be sent to the UIDAI
to send a One Time Password to any
mobile phone that is on hand.
MARCH 2015

The potential for "leakage"
and identity fraud and corruption
through the use of the OTP option,
and the problem this poses for the
"last mile" is undeniable, although it
is not being acknowledged. No wonder everyone including the UIDAI
is shrinking from taking on liability
where there is a "false accept," or
"false reject," or when identity fraud
occurs. The risk thus rests heavily
on the individual. For now, the hype
that has surrounded the UID has
been legitimized by past failures and
corruption. However, the excitement
surrounding the biometric technology is unjustified as it has not
been derived by an intimate understanding of the poor and marginalized. The gap between the project's
claims and how it is actually playing
out in reality is huge. And how much
the bureaucracy and the political
establishment have understood is
moot; they have spoken too little for
us to tell. With the claims not quite
holding up, one has to ponder what
ambitions have driven the project?
In the early stages of the project, UID was postulated as the
answer to the problems in the PDS
and NREGA; but the credibility of
these claims was severely challenged by researchers and activists. The focus was then shifted to
"financial inclusion." UID was meant
to fulfil the "Know Your Customer"
(KYC) principle for opening bank
accounts, more particularly what
is generally acknowledged as "nofrills" accounts. The problem with
this claim is that KYC in banking was
brought in, in the context of money
laundering, and terrorist funding.
No-frills accounts have had no KYC
requirement; the amounts are too
small to matter. Now, with the UID,
KYC has even been introduced for
no-frills accounts. That so many people are unbanked has a great deal to
do with banks not being interested
in low value customers, not having
∕

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine

branches where they are needed,
and with the banking correspondent
system not working. The banking
system is totally unprepared for the
changes that have occurred to date,
and continue to occur. Rather, this
has meant that some members of
the population, panicked by the
threat of exclusion, have rushed to
be enrolled on the UIDAI.

Toward a Global
Identity System
At Nilekani's Washington meetings
in April 2013 at the CGD [4] and
the World Bank [11], discussions
were drawn around what some
might consider outrageous proposals. Addressing Mr. Nilekani, the
chair of the meeting said: "I wonder
what you think of the possibility of
a global system, and whether or not
you think by the year 2050 there
could be a global system. Frankly, I think it would be a real influence in knocking down the nation
state..." And then he asked, "Is this
the thin edge of the wedge for the
end of sovereignty?" The question
recurred at the World Bank meeting [11] where Mr. Nilekani's answer
was simple: "There is nothing technologically limiting for having the
whole population of the world on
the system... If you can do a billion,
you can do 7 billion." The President
of the World Bank then repeated
that all projects brought to him, for
Africa, and everywhere else, would
now have to integrate the UID system, or else he would want to know
why: "... can you have a single system that would work with everybody
throughout the world?" And "what
are the implications if you were to
withdraw money... all ATMs may say,
we don't want just your card and
PIN number, we want your biometrics everywhere... you literally would
know where somebody is every minute... or every time he did that transaction. Would you do one system?...

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