India’s Supreme Court has upheld the country’s ambitious Aadhaar digital identification programme, but struck down the requirement to link mobile-phone numbers, bank accounts and school admissions to an Aadhaar number. Under the programme, a unique 12-digit identification number is assigned to citizens after collecting their biometric data and photographs.
Although the government can continue to expand the ID system for state subsidies and services in line with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals that call for providing an identity for all by 2030, the five-judge bench struck down section 57 of the Aadhaar Act, which allowed corporate entities or individuals to demand an Aadhaar card in exchange for goods or services. However, the Aadhaar number must still be quoted to file income tax returns. Introduced in 2009, the scheme has grown to become the world’s largest biometric ID programme.
For more information, see the Bloomberg article: World’s Largest Digital ID Plan Gets Top India Court Backing