Human Rights Watch (HRW) has submitted a report to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights in which it examines how the use of Artificial Intelligence and other data-driven technologies in welfare programs - including Aadhaar - affects people’s human rights. Aadhaar is one of eight such programs that were studied. The report calls Aadhaar's biometric identification and data collection requirements 'invasive', and says the Aadhaar database "increases the risk of unnecessary and disproportionate surveillance”. What the report does: Explains how states delegate key welfare functions to automated decision-making models that use technologies associated with AI such as data mining and machine learning. These include determining who is eligible and deciding benefit levels. Assesses how automated decision-making compromises people’s rights to privacy and social security, and interferes with the obligation of states to guarantee these rights without discrimination. HRW's concerns with Aadhaar After a brief precis on the status of Aadhaar, the report lists HRW’s various concerns with the scheme and how it is implemented. Here is a summary: Privacy issues HRW says that Aadhaar’s “invasive” biometric identification and data collection requirements have created the world’s largest database of biometric identity information, which "increases the risk of unnecessary and disproportionate surveillance". Though the Supreme Court ruling on Aadhaar imposed several restrictions to safeguard people’s data, these changes did not address the scope of biometric data and personal information collected under the program. HRW also raised concerns about the numerous data breaches associated with Aadhaar. It said…
