India is obsessed with giving its people “unique IDs”

THE PROMISE of Aadhaar, India’s biometrics-based national-identity system, was a glorious one. It was designed to provide a legal identity to those who possessed no papers and to eliminate the stacks of documents required for even minor administrative tasks. It has largely been a success. Fifteen years after the first 12-digit “unique ID” was issued under Aadhaar, nearly every Indian has been enrolled. What used to require bundles of photocopies is today achieved with a photograph or a fingerprint. Aadhaar has helped cut corruption and fraud in the provision of benefits. Opening a bank account or switching mobile operators now takes minutes instead of days. All kinds of services have been built on top of it.