As technologies become ever more sophisticated the possibilities they bring to governments raise very serious issues about civil liberties. India is embarking on a Social Security database, which issues every one of it’s 1.2 billion people with a Unique Identification Number (UID). This number is linked to biometric data about that individual, such as their fingerprint, iris, and photograph; thus making identity cards very difficult to falsify.

The thinking behind this database is to combat the rampant social security fraud in the nation. Therefore, linking an individuals entitlements to healthcare, welfare, education etc to the database will make it harder for people to claim as bogus individuals.

However, they plan to allow banks and local government, as well as other institutions access to the database, thus allowing the database to be used to authorize payments to people’s bank accounts. This could pave the way for a cashless society.

The company who are providing the technology behind the scheme have admitted that this scheme could be used to “support a cashless society”.

Governments throughout the world are gathering vast amounts of data on their citizens, and the technology available to them is developing at such a rate that a cashless society, in which people are monitored 24/7, is  not just the stuff of Orwellian fiction but a very real possibility.

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