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IDs, Personal Privacy, and India

Series: Global Ethics Corner
From: Carnegie Council
Length: 00:02:00

The Indian government plans to give all 1.2 billion Indians a fingerprint ID. Are you in favor of a national biometric ID to prevent identity theft and facilitate commerce? Or are you concerned about the privacy implications? In any case, are universal IDs only a matter of time? Read the full description.

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Created and managed by Carnegie Council Senior Program Director and Senior Fellow William Vocke, Global Ethics Corner is a weekly 2 minute segment devoted to newsworthy ethical issues.

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Piece Description

Created and managed by Carnegie Council Senior Program Director and Senior Fellow William Vocke, Global Ethics Corner is a weekly 2 minute segment devoted to newsworthy ethical issues.

Transcript

Do governments have too much information about and potential control over your life?

Would national IDs make your identity more secure, financial affairs more efficient, and practices more transparent, less corrupt?

India is walking the line between privacy and effectiveness. "The Indian government is trying to give all 1.2 billion Indians something like an American Social Security number, but more secure." Their ID includes photo and biometric data, initially fingerprints.

India believes this will have remarkable economic and social impacts: decreasing theft of food subsidies, curbing voting fraud, smoothing financial transactions, matching medical records, rationalizing and speeding all types of transactions.

Also, "Even with strict controls for privacy, the UID scheme will help companies understand more about the population they serve."

For many Americans, a national ID is fright...
Read the full transcript

Additional Credits

William Vocke- Producer, Program Director, Writer and Voice Talent
Deborah Carroll- Production Manager
Julia Kennedy- Content Editor, Producer/Host of Advocates for Ethics in Business
Robert Smithline- Editor
Terence Hurley- Editor
Ina Pira- Production Assistant

Related Website

www.carnegiecouncil.org