India to issue all 1.2 billion citizens with biometric ID cards

The Indian government has announced that it is to issue all of its 1.2 billion citizens with biometric identity cards.

The Government has said that the first cards will be issued within 18 months. The operation will be run by the Unique Identification Authority, a new government department created specifically for the task of assigning every living Indian an exclusive number and gathering and electronically storing their personal details.

It is hoped that the operation, which is expected to cost at least £3 billion, will fight corruption but it could also be used to identify illegal immigrants and tackle terrorism.

Is biometric identification coming to the U.S.? It already has. Have you applied for a passport lately? Hundreds of credit unions are using biometric identification. Learn more about biometric ID at the CU InfoTECH Conference set for November 9-11, 2009 in Palm Springs, CA.

Click here for a conference brochure:
http://cuconferences.com/tech09/09%20InfoTech%20FINAL.pdf