Indian Supreme Court okays AADHAR, but limits scope
28 September, 2018
category: Biometrics, Digital ID, Government
The Supreme Court in India ruled on the case involving AADHAR, the controversial national biometric identity program. The ruling was a mixed bag, with both proponents and opponents winning some and losing some. First, the ruling states that AADHAR does not fundamentally violate the privacy rights of the 1.3 billion Indians and thus can continue, but the ruling goes on to place limits on potential uses for the ID.
According to the New York Times, the judges voted 4 to 1 to approve continuation of the use of the program for government services like the distribution of rations and other benefits as well as the collection of income taxes.
They said no to applications outside government, such as verifying student identities for exams or using it for private sector applications such as bank and mobile phone account origination. The use of AADHAR for these corporate use cases has been a major driver for the program as it was viewed as key to modernizing the Indian economy and improving service availability for millions of undocumented residents.
