77 lines
3.6 KiB
Markdown
77 lines
3.6 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Datengarten 45
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no: 45
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subtitle: "Aaadhaar: What kind of 'database state' is the Indian government creating?"
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date: 2018-05-20T00:00:00+02:00
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event_date: 2018-05-20T20:00:00+02:00
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location: CCCB
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speaker: Sumandro Chattapadhyay
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language: Englisch
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streaming: no
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---
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{{< datengarten-infobox >}}
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A discussion of the Aadhaar project as a digital identity platform for
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governance
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Abstract
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--------
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As part of my larger academic interest in the history of electronic
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governance and computing by the Government of India since 1960s, I have
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been studying the making and activities of the Unique Identification
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Authority of India (UIDAI). UIDAI was instituted in 2009 to assign
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unique biometrics- linked identification numbers, branded as Aadhaar
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numbers, to all the residents of India. The growing literature about
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this Aadhaar project focus on various topics such as implications for
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citizenship, for efficiency of governmental services, for formalisation
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and unification of unorganised banking and welfare-accessing practices.
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As opposed to socio-legal critiques offered by most researchers and
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activists in India, I discuss the technological imagination and the
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materiality of the database system being designed and deployed as part
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of the Aadhaar project. I argue that it is crucial to develop a close
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understanding of the specific form of data collection, management,
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archiving, sharing by the Aadhaar project and the software
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infrastructure it is building to enable various government and
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commercial agencies to implement a single identity platform for tracking
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their interactions with citizens/consumers.
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Like all 'new' technologies, the Aadhaar project involves a continued
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engagement and negotiations with older technological infrastructures and
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socio-technical practices. I will argue here that this newness is to be
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found in the idea of the digital ‘identity platform,' as opposed to the
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demographic and biometric data it gathers. In my exploration, I closely
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study the official reports and technical documents published by UIDAI to
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understand its techno-infrastructural proposals and their potential
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consequences in the context of the recent history of electronic
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governance and national identity card policy in India. My research is
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also guided by the project's self-description as an 'identity platform,'
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which needs to be understood within the specific technological paradigm
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of information production and circulation as captured by the notion of
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the 'platform' as a site for capturing and monetising user behaviour
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data. In conclusion, I reflect on the potential nature of the database
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state being conceptualised and realised through the Aadhaar project.
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Biographic Note
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---------------
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I am a researcher interested in the history and politics of informatics
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in India, media and technology studies, and political economy. I am a
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Research Associate at The Sarai Programme in the Centre for the Study of
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Developing Societies, Delhi, India, and contribute to the ongoing
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research project on 'media and information infrastructures.' I also
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periodically work with the Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore,
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on topics of open data policy, open access and Internet governance.
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Previously, I have worked with MOD Institute on issues of affordable
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housing, urban security and ICTs and urban governance; and have led a
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data analysis and visualisation team at the Azim Premji University,
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Bangalore, India. I studied economics in Visva-Bharati, Shantiniketan,
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and in Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.
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Links
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-----
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- Personal Website: [ajantriks.net](http://ajantriks.net)
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- The Sarai Programme: [sarai.net](http://sarai.net)
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- Centre for the Study of Developing Societies: [csds.in](http://csds.in)
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