An eye for an I

Recording biometrics and reconsidering identity in postcolonial India

Datos Bibliográficos

ID7100348
AutoresVijayanka Nair (0009-0003-6305-9309, New York University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2018
Volumen26
Número2
Páginas143-156
Fecha de publicación2018-03-05
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaContemporary South Asia (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0958-4935 • E-ISSN: 1469-364X
EditorialTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09584935.2017.1410102
OpenAlexW2791462330
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas18
Referencias citadas26

In 2009, the Government of India embarked on a mission to issue each of India's over one billion residents a unique biometric identification number, Aadhaar (literally, 'foundation'). An Aadhaar database would link the demographic and biometric information (iris scans, fingerprints, facial photograph) of residents to a 12-digit number. India currently commands the world's largest biometric database. While Aadhaar does not guarantee citizenship, benefits, or services, its architects submit that its reliable, real-time identity verification infrastructure potentially allows for the targeted delivery of any good to its intended recipient. Aadhaar is fashioned as an ID concerned with a pristine bodily uniqueness untarnished by the social, political, or economic. Aadhaar frequently provokes the questions: Who is the recipient of Aadhaar and to what community does Aadhaar afford membership? Based on ethnographic fieldwork in India's capital, New Delhi, this article examines how Aadhaar comes to inform ideas of identity and belonging held by its implementers, as well as the population it targets

Aesthetics · Art · Biometric data · Biometrics · Business · Citizenship · Computer security · Ethnography · Government (linguistics · Identity (music · Identity Theft · Internet privacy · Political science · Politics · Population · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · Computer Science · Law · South Asian Studies and Conflicts · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies