Well, the task of identification is only meaningful with regard to a broad purpose and it should be handled separately for every such purpose.If IDs are found wanting for a specific purpose, the intent should be to fix that instead of linking everything under the sun to one all-powerful Aadhaar failure/breach of which can amount to "digital death" where personhood is lost and the consequences are grave, especially for those less privileged. (you dont have to trust me, please look online for examples ). Why on earth would anyone support a unified system to "track everybody" ? If you think about it, Aadhaar isnt even the answer to the problem you say it solves because it needs to be seeded with a pre-existing proof of identity.
I would agree that the purpose of Aadhaar has some merit but the architecture itself is flawed, not just the implementation. It is a centralized database which allows for aggregation of unrelated silos of online information and facilitates profiling / surveillance ( whether or not there is intent on the part of the govt to do that is immaterial, having to trust their benevolence isnt what the cosntitution requires of a citizen ).It shifts the burden of proof of identity from the state to the citizen. Mandatory collection of biometrics in itself poses a serious problem. You can change your password but, if compromised, not your fingerprints.
Still, if you think that the problem lies only with the implementation, even a failure on that front alone is unacceptable if it leads to exclusion to the point that someone is denied basic human rights because if it. (Again, you can find news pieces online documenting the same ) The expansion of Aadhaar has been reckless and grossly disproportionate to the scope of the problems it was supposed to solve ( like deduplication and related illicit activities ) and many of the government's lofty claims about it's benefits have been shown to be false by eminent economists like Reetika Khera and Jean Dreze. I dont mind a digital ID if it is limited in scope ( like Public Dist Systems for welfare schemes and such and even there it should NOT be the only method of identification ) not shoved down our throats and if it is backed by a cogent legal framework to addesss issues regarding protection from violation of fundamental rights etc. No such framework or robust privacy laws exist today in the country. You should perhaps follow the proceeedings in the SC cases to find out what I am talking about.Anyone familiar with the evolution of SSN since its introduction in the 1930s can tell you that there is a world of difference between the way SSN works and the all pervasive intent and flawed legislation of Aadhaar.
