The Aadhaar digital ID system for providing welfare services in India faces “hurdles, including the burden of establishing authorization and concerns about biometric reliability”, noted a report on ‘Decentralised Finance and Digital Assets’ by Moody’s Investors Service, on September 21, 2023. In what can be seen as a quick review of India’s Aadhaar project, the global risk-assessment firm further stated, “The system often results in service denials, and the reliability of biometric technologies, especially for manual laborers in hot, humid climates, is questionable.” The report essentially looked at emerging decentralised identification systems that it claims can provide services across sectors and ensure the security of people’s data in a better manner. In doing so, the firm has observed that there’s a shift towards a decentralised digital identity system as a “strategic response” to the “security and privacy vulnerabilities posed by centralized ID systems like Aadhaar”. India’s IT Ministry quickly issued a press release dismissing the firm’s claims on the grounds that the report did not provide any primary or secondary data to back their assertions. More so, the government touted Aadhaar as the “most trusted digital ID” in the world. Why it matters: The government has presented an immediate rebuttal to the claims made in Moody’s report, but the review does shed light on issues that have been reiterated for years now. Whether it is about the exclusion of vulnerable groups from welfare benefits or the uncertainties regarding the security of Aadhaar data, there are critical problems that raise doubts over the government’s claim…
