UID For Dummies (PDF) - Countercurrents.org

"Their anonymity limits agencies from providing them services that are remotely available,
and that could be accessed through a mobile phone," he said.
There is a definite move in the industry to co-opt the public on the use of sensor technology
and how it can radicalize everyday life. According to Infosys’s chief executive officer S.
Gopalakrishnan, sensor technologies integrated with IT networks, cloud computing, and the
mobile internet “will drive investment, and change how companies automate business
processes in the future”. 53 Integrated sensor technologies are attuned to identifying a
customer entering a store and offer her new products and customized discounts based on her
prior buying behaviour, he adds.
The use of biometrics in consumer ID applications worldwide are projected to grow at a
Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of around 27% between 2010 and 2012. 54 With
advancements in sensor technology and algorithms, biometrics seem to have become a choice
for the financial services industry as well.
F. Similar Initiatives across the World
Q. 32. How have other countries approached such projects?
Debates about systems of national identification have been taking place worldwide for a long
time, but with a growing intensity in the last few years. Technological progress and the
current socio-political scenario have led to growing support for complex ID systems from
governments and particular sections of the population. Below is a brief description of similar
projects across the world (for country-specific details, see Appendix 2).
Some of the most prolific examples of National ID programmes and their subsequent
outcomes can be seen in Australia, UK and the US. Australia witnessed perhaps the fiercest
opposition to national ID cards. In 1985, there was a proposal to introduce these cards
(mostly for curbing tax evasion) but due to severe backlash from activists and citizens,
backed by strong media support, it was withdrawn in 1987.
The Real ID Act passed by the US in 2005 has also been opposed by many states on grounds
of privacy and threat to data security. As a compromise, the Obama administration, in 2009,
introduced Pass ID in the Congress. The Pass ID Act sets strong security standards for
identification cards and driver's licenses. However, it does not collect personal information of
individuals and store it in a centralized database, accessible by any state authority, as the UID
project does.
25