Aadhaar as global ID?

This may sound a bit far-fetched and hence interesting to think about.

Aadhaar, is the unique ID about 1 billion Indians have (970,327,158 to be precise, on Jan 31, 2016 – about 1/7 or 14% of the global population!).

How about making Aadhaar a global ID solution for the whole or part of the world? If majority of the world can use Facebook for social sharing and Gmail for email, why not a global Indian solution for unique ID? Why reinvent the wheel when there is something already working successfully for 1B people!? If Europe has a common currency and monitory system, why not a common ID system for a few countries? Technically, it is not a proof of citizenship anyway. It is only an ID.

To start with, it could be a unique ID solution for the neighboring south Asian countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Shri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, followed by Southeast Asian region and then countries in Africa. It may easily cover about half the global population in next decade before moving on to other countries. This may be a technological gift from India to the world besides the Zero, Yoga, meditation, and of course, the chicken tikka masala! J

It is easier said than done though. First Indian government has to agree to sharing a strategic asset with other countries. Then governments of various countries to be convinced of the advantages it may have, by showcasing the success story of benefits India is deriving from using it. There may also be apprehensions about privacy, ownership and confidentiality of the data. It will only be surprising if something of this magnitude goes without its share of controversies and debates.

Adopting Blockchain architecture may help resolve this issue of ownership and location of the database, as it will be distributed across the world (or a region) with no single point of failure or owner, though the data cannot be public for anyone to see, as is the case with public Blockchains.

Thank you for reading. Shall appreciate your thoughts.
Location: Nagpur, Maharashtra 440001, India

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