October 15, 2012
India’s Universal ID program seeks to provide a unique identity to all 1.2 billion residents. With the challenge of covering a very large population, India is is a unique testing ground for biometric identification technology. Its successes and potential failures will have far-reaching implications for other developing countries looking to create national identity systems. Already, the Indian case offers some important lessons:
- Using multiple biometrics helps maximize accuracy, inclusion, and security
- Supporting public- and private-sector applications creates incentives for use
- Competitive, standards-based procurement lowers costs
- Cardless design increases security and cuts costs but can be problematic if mobile networks are incomplete
- Establishing clear jurisdiction is essential
- Open technology is good, but proprietary systems and foreign providersmay still be necessary
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