The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) constituted by the government of India is undertaking on the most ambitious projects in the world to create a citizen database and give an UID number to each citizen. The project, many people say, violates privacy of the people and data misuse can be harmful to the citizens.

Nandan Nilekani, chairman of UIDAI has said that the unique identification (UID) number project named Aadhaar will be rolled out in the next four weeks and 600 million people in the country will get the unique identity number for their identity.

He said the UID will be a national inter-operable mobile identity based on biometrics which can be used anywhere in the country. The UIDAI has tied up with 220 enrollment agencies in the country for the project.

Aadhaar could improve monitoring enrolment for the Right to Education Act, financial inclusion, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), facilitating employment search and others along with making below poverty line (BPL) census a part of the proposed Food Security Act.

There are some concerns regarding leakages and misidentification due to class division in rural areas. Some also raise concerns about handling of privacy and security along with possibilities of data theft and abuse.

Civic experts say the project is against the human rights on cyberspace and is unconstitutional. Some term it illegal in spite of the National Identification Authority of India Bill 2010. Experts argue that these projects do not have legal framework and are not under the parliamentary scrutiny.