"The immediate threat may not be realised now. But in a span of next five years, when the cards will be rolled out completely, we may also witness cases of cyber mischief such as hacking," Bhaskar said.That someone would steal another person's identity is a pretty clear demonstration that it has value. It also happens to have far more value to the person who possesses it legitimately that it has for someone who steals it. The fact that people worry about identity theft is proof that their public (or contractual) identity matters a great deal to them.
He further warned that cybermischief may also evolve into cybercrime that poses serious threat to country's national security.
While the UID guarantees uniqueness and a universal identity through a centralised online identity verification process, experts point out that biometric information such as iris scan and fingerprinting lead to a misuse of an individual's personal information.
Experts have also raised concerns on the number getting misused by anti-socials such as terrorists, since they can get it issued through fake identities during large-scale enrolments.
Unfortunately, no nationwide identity management scheme is going to be perfect because the basic unit for which it seeks to account is the human being, which possesses many wondrous attributes, but alas falls short of perfection.
So, people like to have an identity (a public, verifiable, contractual identity) but the identity management system isn't going to be perfect.
The challenge is how to make the benefits of this type of identity universally available while minimizing the cost of the system's abuse.
That the system will be abused cannot be in doubt. But neither can there be any doubt that there is a tremendous amount human suffering that follows from the absence of a system.
Imagine that you don't have an identity of the type at issue here. You're pretty much shut off from much of what the world has to offer and not just the Little League World Series.
The absence of verifiable identities has undermined public health efforts (immunizations), the implementation of social safety nets, and compulsory childhood education. It keeps poor people form becoming un-poor by locking them out of the banking and credit sectors.
The choice that India confronts isn't identity theft or no identity theft; it's identity theft or poverty, inequity, suffering and endemic communicable (yet preventable) disease.
Of course those in charge of crafting ID management systems should work prudently to minimize system errors and opportunity for abuse. The adoption of biometric technologies (because of their accuracy and cost-effectiveness) in these efforts demonstrates prudence rather than carelessness.
