India’s national biometric ID scheme

The document analyzes the Unique Identification Number (UID) project in India, the world's largest biometric ID programme, focusing on its goals of improving service delivery to the poor and reducing welfare fraud. It identifies critical challenges including jurisdictional conflicts between the UIDAI and the Home Ministry, the lack of independent grievance mechanisms, and significant risks to privacy and data protection. The authors warn that the convergence of data across agencies could enable profiling and surveillance, and they recommend establishing stronger legal safeguards and an independent review body.

• The Unique Identification Number (UID) project, launched in 2009, is the largest biometric identification programme globally, aiming to provide IDs to over 1.2 billion Indian residents to increase efficiency in public and private service delivery and reduce welfare fraud.
• The UID system utilizes multimodal biometrics, specifically collecting digital profile pictures, iris scans, and fingerprints from all ten fingers for every resident.
• There are significant jurisdictional and legal conflicts between the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and the Home Ministry, which is running a parallel biometric National Population Registration (NPR) project.
• The current grievance mechanism is criticized for lacking independence, as it relies on in-house reviews by UIDAI-appointed officers, which the authors argue violates the principle of natural justice.
• The scheme lacks clear legal restrictions and guidelines regarding the use of biometric data, creating risks of unauthorized access, misuse, and increased surveillance.
• The potential for 'convergence'—the linking of UID numbers across various public and private agencies—could allow the UIDAI to act as a profile manager, enabling data mining and discriminatory profiling.
• Although the UID scheme is officially voluntary, it is becoming effectively mandatory because it is linked to the National Population Registration (NPR) and is increasingly required to access welfare and development services.

APA

Jacobsen, E. K. U., & Vij, P. (2013). India’s national biometric ID scheme. Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/dfd2c1eb-614e-44f8-b267-4d7ac855ff37/CORE Policy Brief 4-2013.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

Jacobsen, Elida K. U., and Priyanka Vij. India’s national biometric ID scheme. Peace Research Institute Oslo, 2013. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/dfd2c1eb-614e-44f8-b267-4d7ac855ff37/CORE Policy Brief 4-2013.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{jacobsen2013indias, author = {Jacobsen, Elida K. U. and Vij, Priyanka}, title = {{India’s national biometric ID scheme}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, year = {2013}, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/dfd2c1eb-614e-44f8-b267-4d7ac855ff37/CORE Policy Brief 4-2013.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }