[Reader-list] Fingerprints, databases and mobile phones

Thu Oct 1 11:37:25 IST 2009

Dear Jeebesh,

Thanks for sending the links. The Indian Express article however
sounds too good to be true. Some of the claims it makes sound
ridiculous at best.

Cheers,

Zainab

On Wed, Sep 30, 2009 at 10:47 AM, Jeebesh <jeebesh at sarai.net> wrote:
> dear All,
>
> Two news items that could be given some thought.
>
> “If any agency wants to confirm the identify of a person, it would
> have to just take the fingerprint of the person on a cell phone and
> send it across to a central database and receive authentication within
> seconds.”.
>
> http://www.hindu.com/2009/09/27/stories/2009092755850900.htm
>
>
> " If all goes according to plan, then starting next month, your bank
> and insurance accounts, your travel details and even telephone and
> Internet usage will all be available to a bunch of high-level
> officials in the top-most government security enforcement agencies."
>
> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/soon-11-central-agencies-can-monitor-your-bank-account-travel-and-tax-details/522026/
>
>
> Read more below.
>
> Jeebesh
>
> ------------------
> http://www.hindu.com/2009/09/27/stories/2009092755850900.htm
>
> NEW DELHI: The recently constituted Unique Identification Authority of
> India (UIDAI) headed by Nandan Nilekani, former co-Chairman of the IT
> major Infosys, would aim at devising a system through which the
> identity of a person could be established through just a call from a
> mobile phone.
>
> Explaining the project at a lecture here, Mr. Nilekani said that since
> its objective was to help the poor in particular to access the
> benefits of various government schemes with greater ease, the aim was
> to develop a system whereby the identity of a person could be
> established through just a call from a mobile phone.
>
> “If any agency wants to confirm the identify of a person, it would
> have to just take the fingerprint of the person on a cell phone and
> send it across to a central database and receive authentication within
> seconds.”
>
> Instead of a card, the UIDA would only provide a number to every
> citizen linked to a person’s demographic and biometric information. At
> the time of the issue of the number, the Authority would seek certain
> basic information such as the name, date of birth, place of birth,
> gender, and the address of the individuals and take their photograph
> and fingerprints.
>
> The database would be developed in partnership with the government and
> private agencies, such as mobile service providers, cooking gas
> outlets, passport offices, NREGA and PDS authorities. “The moment a
> person comes in contact with any of the partner agencies, their
> details would be collected and the unique identification number would
> be issued. Once a person gets the number, he or she would have to just
> quote it on approaching another service provider.”
>
> The aim of the project was to be provide a robust system to eliminate
> duplicate and fake identities, apart from verification and
> authentication of the identity in an easy manner, Mr. Nilekani said.
> The system would be developed in such a way that whenever a partner
> agency sends the data of an individual for registration, the central
> database would perform a search on key demographic and biometric
> attributes so that there was no duplication.
>
> Noting that the present situation of multiple databases gave
> individuals “an incentive” to provide different personal information
> to different agencies, he said that since the mechanism for de-
> duplication in the UID system would ensure that the residents would
> have only one chance to be in the database, the individuals would
> provide accurate data. “The incentives for giving correct information
> would become especially powerful as benefits and entitlements would be
> linked to UID.”
>
> Giving the lecture at the 67th foundation day celebrations of the
> Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Mr. Nilekani said the
> UIDAI planned to start issuing the identification numbers in 12 to 18
> months and cover 600 million citizens over the next four years.
>
> While the largest such database currently available anywhere in the
> world covered only 120 million people, the one being set up in India
> would cover 10 times more than that figure, he said. “It is certainly
> a gigantic task with several technological challenges. But, we will do
> it.”
>
> ------------------------
>
> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/soon-11-central-agencies-can-monitor-your-bank-account-travel-and-tax-details/522026/
>
>
> Maybe this is the price you are required to pay to keep yourself and
> the country secure from terrorists. If all goes according to plan,
> then starting next month, your bank and insurance accounts, your
> travel details and even telephone and Internet usage will all be
> available to a bunch of high-level officials in the top-most
> government security enforcement agencies.
>
> The National Intelligence Grid, which the government intends to
> establish by the end of this month, will ensure that designated
> officers in 11 Central security and intelligence agencies—such as the
> Intelligence Bureau, National Investigating Agency and the Directorate
> of Revenue Intelligence—would have complete access to nearly 20
> databases held by public authorities, including nationalised banks and
> insurance companies, railways and airlines, immigration and income tax
> department.
>
> The idea is to let the law enforcement agencies get quicker and
> comprehensive access to all information related to suspected criminals
> and terrorists at one place over a highly secure network.
> Investigating officers often lose crucial time trying to get
> information from other departments, thereby benefiting the criminals.
>
> The NATGRID, it is hoped, would not just speed up investigation of
> cases but also help in pre-empting crimes by acting on suspicious
> activities of people under watch. For purposes of easy use, each of
> the 20-odd databases would remain separate entities and would not be
> merged into a single master database.
>
> Eventually, the intention is to bring relevant databases held even in
> private hands, like banks or transport companies, under the ambit of
> NATGRID. The main data centre for NATGRID would be located in the
> Multi-Agency Centre which has been reactivated after the Mumbai
> attacks last year
>
> Sources in the government played down concerns on privacy, saying
> security agencies could even otherwise access these databases for
> investigation purposes. “All that is sought to be done is ensure that
> relevant information is accessed and acted upon timely in the
> interests of national security,” a source said.
>
> Additionally, they pointed out that similar measures have been taken
> in other countries as well, especially in the United States following
> 9/11.
>
> “It would not have been done if it wasn’t considered to be completely
> necessary. A system of checks and balances would obviously be put in
> place so that information is not misused in any way,” the source said.
>
> The complete NATGRID network would be delivered in three phases over
> the next two years. The first phase is ready to be initiated and is
> awaiting the final approval of Home Minister P Chidambaram, government
> sources said.
>
>
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-- 
Zainab Bawa
Ph.D. Student and Independent Researcher

Gaining Ground ...
http://zainab.freecrow.org

http://cis-india.org/research/cis-raw/histories-of-the-internet/transparency-and-politics