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India creating new identity card system for 1.2Bn people

economist.com

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Re: India creating new identity card system for 1.2Bn people

#21

Post by _g8fe »

kailashbadu wrote: post #20
seshagiric wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nilekani is the current CEO of Infosys. He has already stated he is going to step down from Infosys before taking up the effort to create an India wide UID. Bidding for this mega project will be an international one, with some Israeli companies already showing interest (in addition to Indian majors like Infosys, TCS, Wipro...). So the question is not as much as about conflict of interest as it is about the success of…

Actually he has long stepped down as a CEO of Infosys. He, however, continued to wield the title of co-chairman until now.

He has resigned now.

Re: India creating new identity card system for 1.2Bn people

#23

Post by jyothi »

gaius wrote: post #18
jyothi wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And you have quoted Nilekani, what more would do you expect. You need to appreciate he is taking this up giving up a definitely more profitable & less frustrating job of heading an IT major. Given this is not a no-brainer job and involves utilizing technology efficiently whoever would fit the bill would have some past associations which might conflict. And real business people know how to keep them separate. And for…

The notion of profit depends entirely on what you're trying to achieve. In this case, perhaps it's political power without the tedium of going to the polls... EU style.

agree. but it is definitely not for political power. If he wanted to I think he probably had a good chance to win standing for MP elections in Bangalore.

I guess getting the political power was more of necessity here because without that authority things might not move among bureaucrats & probably also to be commanding to ensure there is no infiltration of evil influences of other ministers in the system.

Re: India creating new identity card system for 1.2Bn people

#24

Post by tungstenfurnace »

ID cards are a bad idea everywhere. Loss of privacy; loss of the presumption of innocence. Being required to produce the card by aggressive cops. Corruption and collusion between fat cats and government.

The cards will be hacked and sold on the black market almost immediately upon being released (if that ever happens -- it probably won't even after billions of rupees have been spent). Hence they'd make ID fraud and terrorism easier, not harder.

The article mentions 20 different forms of ID which are currently recognised. This sounds better to me. Historians, for example, prefer several pieces of evidence which can be cross-referenced to support a story rather than just one piece.

Just as it's not a good idea to allow private companies to collect data on people without their explicit consent, so it's a bad idea to let the government do so. Actually, it's an important check on government power not to let this happen. And I think many politicans involved in such schemes realise that ID projects won't reach completion. They either think it's a neat and simple idea, or in the worst cases they're out to build empires and make profit for their 'friends'.

Re: India creating new identity card system for 1.2Bn people

#25

Post by anamax »

seshagiric wrote: post #12
rams wrote: post #8

I had predicted here ( http://cycle-gap.blogspot.com/2009/06/all-honourable-men.htm... ): "As the good old days of inflated head counts and billing rates comes to an end for Indian outsourcing companies, the big outsourcing companies will bid for, and push for huge local government projects." It's amazing how uncritically such huge projects are treated by the press in India - privacy issues, potential conflict of int…

Nilekani is the current CEO of Infosys. He has already stated he is going to step down from Infosys before taking up the effort to create an India wide UID. Bidding for this mega project will be an international one, with some Israeli companies already showing interest (in addition to Indian majors like Infosys, TCS, Wipro...). So the question is not as much as about conflict of interest as it is about the success of…

> From anti-corruption point of view, this is really going to be helpful. Any government aid etc can be tracked using the UID (i.e. to see who the beneficiary was). Currently a majority of such funds are eaten up by the politicians and bureaucrats. So perhaps that will get reduced.

"perhaps"? That's your plan? Hope is not a plan.

Unless Indian pols,grifters, and the like are significantly less competent than American ones, an ID card won't have any effect on corruption, waste of govt aid, and so on.

Re: India creating new identity card system for 1.2Bn people

#26

Post by anamax »

GeneralMaximus wrote: post #10
rams wrote: post #8

I had predicted here ( http://cycle-gap.blogspot.com/2009/06/all-honourable-men.htm... ): "As the good old days of inflated head counts and billing rates comes to an end for Indian outsourcing companies, the big outsourcing companies will bid for, and push for huge local government projects." It's amazing how uncritically such huge projects are treated by the press in India - privacy issues, potential conflict of int…

I don't really see how this is a bad thing. The government will not use these cards to track you or anything. It's just a universal ID card. Proving that you exist is a big problem back here, mostly because everyone has their own definition of "proof of identity". If one universal proof of identity exists, you can just show the middle finger to anybody who makes you jump through bureaucratic hoops.

> The government will not use these cards to track you or anything.

While there are some instances where a govt has resisted the temptation to use technology to its fullest for its own interests, the majority are limited only by their competence.

It will be used for tracking because it can be used for tracking and that's one thing that govt folk like to do.

Re: India creating new identity card system for 1.2Bn people

#27

Post by anamax »

jyothi wrote: post #7
dkarl wrote: post #3

Wow, they are going to be the first country to self-consciously grapple with all kinds of fascinating privacy issues that emerge from this kind of system. In most countries, as far as I know, privacy depends on the crappiness of government IT and the difficulty of systems integration. It's mostly accidental. In a powerful, well-designed system, you have to decide to have privacy. This is an exciting prospect -- India…

I live in India & I agree - there is horrendous amount of corruption. And the unique identification number project might not change anything when it comes to illegal immigrants, terrorists. However as the article highlights this would give me one power for which I am okay to bear the grunt of privacy issues: I can (at least proactively) ensure my identity is not misused & if it is, I can at least be aware of it - sto…

> Right now I have a ration card which is particularly necessary to get a cooking gas connection

Let me suggest that your problem is not the lack of an ID card but rationing.

Re: India creating new identity card system for 1.2Bn people

#29

Post by [deleted] »

anamax wrote: post #27
jyothi wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in India & I agree - there is horrendous amount of corruption. And the unique identification number project might not change anything when it comes to illegal immigrants, terrorists. However as the article highlights this would give me one power for which I am okay to bear the grunt of privacy issues: I can (at least proactively) ensure my identity is not misused & if it is, I can at least be aware of it - sto…

> Right now I have a ration card which is particularly necessary to get a cooking gas connection Let me suggest that your problem is not the lack of an ID card but rationing.

[deleted]

Re: India creating new identity card system for 1.2Bn people

#30

Post by jyothi »

anamax wrote: post #27
jyothi wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in India & I agree - there is horrendous amount of corruption. And the unique identification number project might not change anything when it comes to illegal immigrants, terrorists. However as the article highlights this would give me one power for which I am okay to bear the grunt of privacy issues: I can (at least proactively) ensure my identity is not misused & if it is, I can at least be aware of it - sto…

> Right now I have a ration card which is particularly necessary to get a cooking gas connection Let me suggest that your problem is not the lack of an ID card but rationing.

My problem is the misuse of facilities that is happening in the country where I live.
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