Legal And Ethical Considerations of Managing Identities, Ranging from Aadhaar to Global Digital Ids

Abstract

Digital identity systems have quickly grown in number and are now being used to prove an individual's identity and provide services by governments, institutions and private organisations. Digital IDs are now part and parcel of the governance architecture in India with Aadhaar, and are now increasingly playing a key role in promoting financial inclusion, healthcare services, and social welfare distribution, as well as in enabling digital transactions across borders globally. The potential for efficiency, transparency and access for public services is juxtaposed with important legal and ethical issues regarding privacy, surveillance, data security, exclusion, algorithmic discrimination and misuse of personal information. The more these technologies are becoming involved in biometric, artificial intelligence and centralised databases, the more debates have been raised about informational self-determination and constitutional protection. The understanding of privacy as a fundamental right in Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India has changed the legal landscape in India on digital identity governance. There are also differences in regulatory approaches to the trade-off between innovation and civil liberties at the international level, for instance with the European Union's data protection regime. This article reflects on the history of the development of digital identity systems, the legal framework around digital IDs as well as some ethical questions regarding access to personal information by states and corporations. It also examines the development of new international standards, cyber security issues and the importance of establishing strong accountability frameworks to help make digital identity governance transparent, inclusive, rights-centric and constitutionally sound in the digital era.