UIDAI has a poser; want to give it a try?

January 2, 2010 at 2:43 pm | Posted in Arguments For, Data, Nandan Nilekani, News Articles on ID cards, Process, Smart Cards, Survey of Arguments | Comments Off on UIDAI has a poser; want to give it a try?

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UIDAI has a poser; want to give it a try?
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Jayadevan PK
First Published : 02 Jan 2010 08:43:30 AM IST
Last Updated : 02 Jan 2010 09:19:17 AM IST

BANGALORE: Want a piece of action from the nation’s biggest and most challenging IT project? Here’s your chance: The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has thrown the first challenge which it calls the ‘introducer problem’ to the public and has sought innovative solutions.

UIDAI is in the process of contemplating “certain challenging situations” that it might face in the implementation of the ambitious project which envisages a unique identification number to every Indian citizen.

It will be posing a series of challenges and seeking solutions from the public.

The present poser is related to ‘introducer system’ that has been detailed out in the demographic data standards and verification procedure committee report in the committees tab of the UIDAI website. Probable reactions/solutions can be sent to webadminuidai@nic.in.

To get a UID, a person goes to a registration booth being operated by some agency, to get registered. If he/ she has some documentary proof of his/her identity, he/she produces that before the registrar. He/she may also produce another proof of his address. If both these documents are found satisfactory, the registrar will collect the details and biometrics of the person (photo, fingerprints and possibly retinal scan also).

For those who do not possess any documentary proof of their identity or address, there is another mechanism which has been put in place.

This is called the ‘introducer based verification system’ similar to opening a bank account.

Stating the problem, the UIDAI says, “Now the problem is, suppose we have an authorised introducer X who is ready to introduce Y. Y goes to a particular registrar and says that he would like to be registered for a UID. He claims that X, who is authorised to introduce (and also has UID) is ready to introduce him.

If X is also physically present at the place of enrolment, X can give his biometric and introduction process can become foolproof incorporating the nonrepudiation aspect too. However, this will require physical presence of X at the registration site which may be difficult and inconvenient, especially when introduction is purely voluntary.” “In this situation, can we evolve a communication protocol preferably using mobile (one can assume that both the registrar and the introducer will have the mobile phone) or any other system so that the introducer’s physical presence can be dispensed with, while not compromising the authenticity of introduction?” UIDAI asks on its website.

“We should also not require immediate response from the introducer as the registration process is going on.

He can respond a little later also, if he feels somebody has misused the facility. This is possible because UIDs are not going to be issued in real time and will take overnight,” it adds.