Biometrics technology can be put to use in the service of society, and India's experience testifies to this, Arvind Gupta, head and co-founder of Digital India Foundation, said in an interview with Sputnik on the sidelines of SPIEF 2023.
“If there is a proper balance between privacy protection and innovation, society will evolve. Checks and balances need to be put in place to promote society’s trust in technology. The big question is, does technology solve social problems or does it help corporations line their pockets?" he said.
“India has gone down the path of creating a biometric database because it is very difficult to provide 1.4 billion people with plastic cards that are lost, that one person can transfer to another, etc. Thanks to biometrics, each citizen receives a unique digital profile. India showed the world what it is can work, that public trust can be earned through a system of checks and balances and reliable protection of personal data," the expert concluded.
What is Aadhaar System?
India has the Aadhaar system, which is described as the largest biometric identification system in the world.
System users are assigned a unique 12-digit identification number, which is used when opening bank accounts, purchasing SIM cards, and so on.
The number is associated with a person's biometric information, such as a photograph, fingerprints, and iris images.
All this information is stored in a centralised database.