http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/02/world/asia/02india.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1
truly an amazing effort. ofcourse it is being led by nandan nilekeni.
the purpose is to give every indian an identity entity - number + scanned info of eyes, fingerprints, gender, dob.
there is a potential for the government to directly xfer benefits to the needy, bypassing the bureaucracy and its penchance for corruption.
folks living in usa or canada, have our social insurance numbers (sin). in 1973, the sin was used as a personal identification number and also key for many applications including our national health insurance. since then, privacy advocates have prevailed, till today, the sin, apart from birth registration, is only used at tax filing purpose.
such is the power and fear of canadian privacy advocates, that during the recent census, there were only rudimentary questions. race and religion was left out, as meant to be too intruding.
Canada Gazette – ORDERS IN COUNCIL
ofcourse, even in india, the concern of privacy has been raised as per the article below. not sure, how powerful how privacy advocates are. as always, the government can invoke fear of terrorist threat, and come up with draconian measures to wiretap and arrest without warrant. in the usa, it is yet to analyzed whether bush era regulations, still maintained by obama, have been as effective as claimed by uncle sam.
Tehelka - India's Independent Weekly News Magazine
i think it all depends on how much trust the average man has in his government. in the usa and india, i think it is nil.
as opposed to japan, where the trust is very high and cuts across all class lines. in the recent tsunami disaster, one could see the japanese, listening to radio reports, and behaving in an orderly fashion, to share the benefits of disaster relief, and also at the same time, bearing their due share of pain, instead of the mad rush, that we might see in india or usa, where the fittest through sheer brawn power, will ensure that they are at the front of the queue and thus hog all the benefits.
truly an amazing effort. ofcourse it is being led by nandan nilekeni.
the purpose is to give every indian an identity entity - number + scanned info of eyes, fingerprints, gender, dob.
there is a potential for the government to directly xfer benefits to the needy, bypassing the bureaucracy and its penchance for corruption.
folks living in usa or canada, have our social insurance numbers (sin). in 1973, the sin was used as a personal identification number and also key for many applications including our national health insurance. since then, privacy advocates have prevailed, till today, the sin, apart from birth registration, is only used at tax filing purpose.
such is the power and fear of canadian privacy advocates, that during the recent census, there were only rudimentary questions. race and religion was left out, as meant to be too intruding.
Canada Gazette – ORDERS IN COUNCIL
ofcourse, even in india, the concern of privacy has been raised as per the article below. not sure, how powerful how privacy advocates are. as always, the government can invoke fear of terrorist threat, and come up with draconian measures to wiretap and arrest without warrant. in the usa, it is yet to analyzed whether bush era regulations, still maintained by obama, have been as effective as claimed by uncle sam.
Tehelka - India's Independent Weekly News Magazine
i think it all depends on how much trust the average man has in his government. in the usa and india, i think it is nil.
as opposed to japan, where the trust is very high and cuts across all class lines. in the recent tsunami disaster, one could see the japanese, listening to radio reports, and behaving in an orderly fashion, to share the benefits of disaster relief, and also at the same time, bearing their due share of pain, instead of the mad rush, that we might see in india or usa, where the fittest through sheer brawn power, will ensure that they are at the front of the queue and thus hog all the benefits.
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