In 2008 when I was learning fascinating technologies, I became particularly interested in applying those in politics. I had a Thinkpad T60 laptop (military grade) that could use fingerprint to authenticate the owner. One of the areas I thought this technology could be used was to address double (or multiple) voting in elections.
I was badly wrong. It violated a fundamental principle of democracy. Elected leaders need to work impartially even for those people who did not agree with their ideology; fingerprint based voting will leave a trace, who voted for whom. The indelible ink by Mysore Paints and Varnish is a solution which still stands the test of time.
Origins
Mr K Subrahmanyam, a security analyst, first proposed the need of an ID card for people living in border villages, most likely. as part of an assessment of the security lapses that happened before the Kargil War. Since it was difficult to use other forms of prevailing identification e.g. PAN card or driver's license in those remote villages, the alternative biological means of identification was explored. Fingerprint based identification method was proposed by Sir William James Herschel (magistrate posted in British occupied Bengal) and formalized by Edward Henry assisted by two Bengalis - Hem Chandra Bose and Azizul Haque. It had been predominantly used by law enforcement agencies as the guilty often lied about their true identity escaping suspicion in the event of repeated crime.
Knives are used both for murder and cutting vegetables. Superior technology should be adopted but its effectiveness depends on the incorruptibility of the people overseeing the system.
Drawbacks
Aadhaar was extended from the realm of forensics to prevent leakages in the public distribution system. Isn't that also a means of fighting crime ? Now, information of law abiding citizens are captured in the same manner smudging the lines between black and white.
Reliance Jio saved huge amounts of regulatory verification costs during on-boarding of its mobile subscribers using Aadhaar system, though, they also have passed the benefits to the customers by abysmally low prices. But, can one guarantee that any tech-savvy Jio store personnel had not stored this information silently in his mobile phone. This impression can be planted at a crime scene misleading the agencies. Maybe the accused will eventually be acquitted but imagine the mental trauma.
Secondly, the technologies used to implement this important system is not developed by us. One such is Mongo DB, a product from a company funded indirectly by CIA (In-Q-Tel). It is unlikely that any nation will ever own the entire eco-system (exception China) but in matters of strategic importance, it is imperative to use indigenous components for the critical parts, even if those turn out to be shabby. If you buy weapons from a country, can you ever defend yourself in a war against that country ?
There are other loopholes. For e.g. it is not possible to de-register from Aadhaar when a person dies. (see here)
Hence, it not only blurs lines between the good and bad but also the living and dead.
Going backwards
People from poor sections of the society cannot fill up the form for a bank account let aside a loan application. Supporters of Aadhaar will argue that such bio-metric authentication fast-tracks this process which will thereafter unleash the country's potential. Viewed from another angle, it is actually pushing the country backwards.
One very important difference between man and animal is man's ability to record his thoughts. The complicated forms in any PSU bank is a challenge to the poor man's intellectual ability (if you tick 'a', then you need to tick 'b', and if you tick 'b' then you need to explain ... ) It is an incentive for him to study and think logically for comprehending the nuances of modern civilization. Once he successfully opens an account after navigating through these words and symbols, he has arrived in the modern society.
Henceforth, he has to be logically defeated.
I was badly wrong. It violated a fundamental principle of democracy. Elected leaders need to work impartially even for those people who did not agree with their ideology; fingerprint based voting will leave a trace, who voted for whom. The indelible ink by Mysore Paints and Varnish is a solution which still stands the test of time.
Origins
Mr K Subrahmanyam, a security analyst, first proposed the need of an ID card for people living in border villages, most likely. as part of an assessment of the security lapses that happened before the Kargil War. Since it was difficult to use other forms of prevailing identification e.g. PAN card or driver's license in those remote villages, the alternative biological means of identification was explored. Fingerprint based identification method was proposed by Sir William James Herschel (magistrate posted in British occupied Bengal) and formalized by Edward Henry assisted by two Bengalis - Hem Chandra Bose and Azizul Haque. It had been predominantly used by law enforcement agencies as the guilty often lied about their true identity escaping suspicion in the event of repeated crime.
Knives are used both for murder and cutting vegetables. Superior technology should be adopted but its effectiveness depends on the incorruptibility of the people overseeing the system.
Drawbacks
Aadhaar was extended from the realm of forensics to prevent leakages in the public distribution system. Isn't that also a means of fighting crime ? Now, information of law abiding citizens are captured in the same manner smudging the lines between black and white.
Reliance Jio saved huge amounts of regulatory verification costs during on-boarding of its mobile subscribers using Aadhaar system, though, they also have passed the benefits to the customers by abysmally low prices. But, can one guarantee that any tech-savvy Jio store personnel had not stored this information silently in his mobile phone. This impression can be planted at a crime scene misleading the agencies. Maybe the accused will eventually be acquitted but imagine the mental trauma.
Secondly, the technologies used to implement this important system is not developed by us. One such is Mongo DB, a product from a company funded indirectly by CIA (In-Q-Tel). It is unlikely that any nation will ever own the entire eco-system (exception China) but in matters of strategic importance, it is imperative to use indigenous components for the critical parts, even if those turn out to be shabby. If you buy weapons from a country, can you ever defend yourself in a war against that country ?
There are other loopholes. For e.g. it is not possible to de-register from Aadhaar when a person dies. (see here)
Hence, it not only blurs lines between the good and bad but also the living and dead.
Going backwards
People from poor sections of the society cannot fill up the form for a bank account let aside a loan application. Supporters of Aadhaar will argue that such bio-metric authentication fast-tracks this process which will thereafter unleash the country's potential. Viewed from another angle, it is actually pushing the country backwards.
One very important difference between man and animal is man's ability to record his thoughts. The complicated forms in any PSU bank is a challenge to the poor man's intellectual ability (if you tick 'a', then you need to tick 'b', and if you tick 'b' then you need to explain ... ) It is an incentive for him to study and think logically for comprehending the nuances of modern civilization. Once he successfully opens an account after navigating through these words and symbols, he has arrived in the modern society.
Henceforth, he has to be logically defeated.
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