Are you the one you say you are?

The real test of reliability for the UID system will be during identity authentication. The UIDAI, with its online authentication and biometric check, will be helpful in building the infrastructure and systems necessary to authenticate residents in different parts of the country.

There is no doubt that the UID can provide the strongest form of pre-verification and identity authentication. But to ensure that targeted benefit programs reach intended beneficiaries in line with the pro poor agenda, a clear adoption process must be put in place by introducing the UID at every point of service delivery. 

For this, many service delivery agencies may need to re-engineer their business processes. Agencies will have to adhere to norms and procedures specified by the UIDAI for fingerprint capture and verification, and introduce a robust biometric authentication process at every point of sale.

Two main forms of authentication, depending on the situation and equipment available, are Online and Offline authentication.

Online authentication:

• Demographic authentication – UID number and demographic information of the UID holder is compared to the information stored in the UID database. The assurance level here is medium.

• Biometric authentication - Biometrics of the UID holder, his UID and key demographic details are compared to the details in the CIDR (Central ID Data Repository). The assurance level in this case is high.

• Demographic/Biometric authentication with API (Application Programming Interface): Registrar's backend system makes a programmatic call to the authentication APIs exposed by the UID system to perform authentication. The assurance level here may be medium-high depending on whether the check used demographic or biometric inputs.

Offline authentication: (does not use the authenticating service provided by the UIDAI)

• Photo match authentication – Low assurance level
• Comparison of the scanned fingerprint of the cardholder to the biometric stored on the Registrar-issued card. The assurance level here is medium.

Authentication and the UIDAI revenue model

Basic identity confirmation would be free. Here, the authenticator will provide the UID number, name and one other parameter such as date of birth of the person, and the central database will confirm the identity as a 'Yes' or 'No' response.

Chargeable authentication services can be of two types:

• Address verification - The agency will submit the UID, name and address of the resident to the CIDR, which will confirm the address. As a result, the agency will not have to do physical address verification.

• Biometrics confirmation - Services such as issuing a credit card or granting a loan need the confirmation of the resident's identity which involves the submission of photographs and other documentation. In the proposed transaction with the UID Authority, the agency can send the scanned photograph or fingerprint together with other demographic details to confirm the identity of the person.

Making A Billion strong Database

Updating UID details:

From time to time, the information that the CIDR holds on the resident may also become outdated and hence the database has to be updated regularly. For e.g., biometric data changes and will be updated every five years for children and every ten years for adults. Fields that are susceptible to change could be the 'present address' field, as well as the resident's name (after marriage). There might also be an error in the fields that occurred during enrolment into the UID. The service provider can make the process more refined by making the update a prerequisite for further availability of benefits. Enrolling agencies and Registrars can serve as points where the resident can update their UID fields. The resident will have to submit their new information at these updation points with the required documentary evidence. This may also include a biometric authentication prior to processing the request.

Reaching Critical Mass in Enrolment

The issuance process of the UIDs is expected to start August 2010 to February 2011, expected to reach a critical mass of about 200 million in two to three years. Until this point, the UIDAI will have to focus on generating demand from both Registrars and residents. However, once the critical mass is achieved, it will generate a network effect that drives demand and accelerates adoption among service providers and residents. And as more service providers across the country mandate UID to dispense their services and benefits, adoption will ramp up rapidly. In four years, the UIDAI estimates that it will issue 600 million UID numbers.

Tracking Enrolments

It is expected that the UIDAI will launch a GIS-based visual reporting system to track trends and patterns across India as and how the project is rolled out. The GIS system will show all UID enrolments by state, as well as by Registrar. The system will also be able to drill down with in states and into districts.

 

Reaching A Sustainable Steady State In Enrolment

A challenge for full enrolment is registering the approximately 60,000 babies that are born in the country every day. Over the next several years, the UIDAI expects to enrol close to the entire Indian population. Once that goal is achieved, enrolment will reach a steady state, where only births (and deaths) as well as immigrants need to be recorded. There are however, some challenges in registering new births. First, since their biometrics is not stable, they have to be re-scanned at a later age. The child's biometrics need to be taken at around 5 years of age, and updated in the UID system every 5 years until the age of 18. Until the time the biometric of the child stabilizes, any one of the parents/guardian will need to provide their biometric information for authentication. Second, names are often not given in India at the time of birth registration.

 

The Uid in The Birth Certificate

One way to ensure that the UID number is used by all government and private agencies is by inserting it into the birth certificate of the infant. Since the name is a mandatory field in the UID database, it is essential that the child be given a name before applying for the UID number. This would ensure that the UID can also be allotted at birth.

 

Recording Deaths

The UID system will not remove a record upon the person's death; it will simply mark it as 'deceased' and hence will render it inactive for the purposes of authentication.

Enrollment

A critical aspect of the UID enrolment process is that enrolment will not be through a mandate, but will be demand driven. The momentum for the UID will come from residents enrolling in order to access the benefits and services associated with it.

The Enrollment Process:

The enrolment process for the UID number will begin with a resident submitting his/her information to the enrolling agency with supporting documents. To make sure the poor are not excluded, the UIDAI has prescribed guidelines for applicants without documents.

The enrollment agency verifies an individual’s document as per the procedure laid down by DDSVP Committee Report. This information is then submitted through the registrar to the CIDR. A de-duplication check is run there using the demographic and biometric information before enrollment to avoid duplication.

A letter with a tear away portion or a card will be issued to the resident containing the UID number, name, photograph, 2D barcode of the finger print etc. using both English and the local language of the state as done by the Election commission of India.

  

Enrollment Costs:

This includes the registrars or agencies enrolling cost and also the cost to the people coming to enroll like forgoing the days wage, travel expenses etc. The Registrars have the option here of charging for the cards they issue residents to offset enrolment costs.

Ensuring clean enrollment data from the registrars:

The UIDAI will periodically carry out a process audit of the information that comes in from the Registrars, to ensure data quality and that agencies are following guidelines recommended by the UIDAI.

How UID Works

The UID system will design and create the institutional microstructure to effectively implement the policy. This will include a Central ID Data Repository (CIDR), which will manage the central system, and a network of registrars that will establish resident touch points through enrolling agencies.

The Central Identities Data Repository (CIDR)

The CIDR will be the central data repository, and will function as a Managed Service Provider. It will store resident records, issue unique identification numbers, and verify, authenticate and amend resident data. The CIDR will only hold the minimum information required to identify the resident and ensure no duplicates. This will include:

1. The Unique Identity Number

UID will be a numeric that is unique across all 1.2 billion residents in India. The UIDAI will also be collecting the following data fields and biometrics for issuing a UID:

a) Name

b) Date of birth

c) Gender

d) Father's/Husband's/ Guardian's name and UID 

e) Mother's/ Wife's/ Guardian's name and UID 

f) Introducer's name and UID (in case of lack of documents)

g) Address

h) All ten finger prints, photograph and both iris scans

2. The Unique Id agencies

The structure of these UID agencies will be as follows

Registrars…Registrars will be State governments or central government agencies such as the Oil Ministry and LIC.  They will help in ensuring that clean and correct data flows into the CIDR. Their key role in the system will be in aggregating enrolments from sub-registrars and enrolling agencies and forwarding it to the CIDR.

Sub-Registrars: These will be the departments/entities that report to a specific Registrar. For instance, the line departments of the state government such as the RDPR (Rural Development and Panchayti Raj)

Enrolling Agencies: Enrolling agencies will directly interact with and enroll residents into the CIDR. For example, the hospital where a baby is born would be the 'enrolling agency' for the baby's UID

Outreach Groups: The UIDAI along with the Registrars will also partner with civil society groups and community networks which will promote the UID number and provide information on enrolment for hard to reach and marginalized populations

3.Committee on Biometric Standards 

A Biometrics Standards Committee, under the Chairmanship of the Director General of NIC, Dr. BK Gairola was constituted by the authority on 29^th September, 2009. It submitted a report on 7^th January, 2010. The UIDAI has examined their Report and has accepted the standards for various biometric attributes as recommendations by the committee.  The UID has also decided that the face, all ten finger prints and both iris scans should be collected at the time of capturing the demographic and biometric details of a resident.

Milestones - Step by step

1993: The Government of India undertook its first effort to provide a clear identity to residents, with the issue of photo identity cards by the Election Commission.

2003: The Government approved the Multipurpose National Identity Card (MNIC).

March 3rd, 2006: The concept of unique identification was first discussed and worked upon, when administrative approval for the project –“Unique ID for BPL families” was given by the Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

July 3rd, 2006: A Processes Committee was setup to suggest processes for updation, modification, addition and deletion of data fields from the core data base to be created under the Unique ID for BPL families Project.

December 4th, 2006: With the approval of the Prime Minister, it was decided to constitute an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) to collate the two schemes – the National Population Register and the Unique Identification Number project.

January 28th, 2008: EGoM decided on the strategy for the collation of NPR and UID. Inter-alia, the proposal to establish UID Authority under the Planning Commission was approved.

January 28th, 2009: In pursuance of the Empowered group of Ministers' fourth meeting, the Unique Identification Authority of India was constituted and notified by the Planning Commission as an attached office under the aegis of Planning Commission with an initial core team of 115 officials. The UIDAI was given the responsibility to lay down plan and policies to implement UID scheme, and shall own and operate the UID database and be responsible for its updation and maintenance on an ongoing basis.

July 2nd, 2009: Shri Nandan Nilekani was appointed as the Chairman of the UIDAI. Shri Nilekani assumed charge on 23rd July, 2009 and since then the UIDAI has started functioning.

What's the big deal?

UIDAI has taken up the herculean task of assigning every single one of India’s 1.2 billion citizens a Unique Identity (UID) number.

If you’re beginning to wonder what the big deal really is, consider this: By 2014, the government wants half of India’s population to be allotted UID numbers. To do that, the Authority will photograph a staggering 600 million Indians, scan 1.2 billion irises, collect six billion fingerprints and record 600 million addresses.

Let’s put this simply. No system in the world has handled anything on this scale. Period.

Think about it.

When the 600 millionth person is assigned a unique 12-digit UID, the system that generates it will have to compare it against 599,999,999 photographs, 1,199,999,998 irises and 12,999,999,990 fingerprints to ensure the number is indeed unique.

By the time the system reaches out to cover every Indian resident, the complexity, well, doubles. When in full flow, the system will be adding a million names to its database every single day until the task is complete.

What is UID?

What is UID?
Unique identification (UID) project was initially conceived by the Planning Commission as an initiative that would provide identification for each resident across the country and would be used primarily as the basis for efficient delivery of welfare services.
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has been created as an attached office under the Planning Commission. Its role is to develop and implement the necessary institutional, technical and legal infrastructure to issue unique identity numbers to Indian residents.


The Mission
The role that the Authority envisions is to issue a unique identification number (UID) that can be verified and authenticated in an online, cost-effective manner, which is robust enough to eliminate duplicate and fake identities.

What's in a name??

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