Abstract

Digital identity verification systems are a very vital part of modern governance and business activities. Being safe, convenient, and accessible, they can offer maximum advantages in relation to other identification methods. Focusing on Estonia's e-Residency and India's Aadhaar-the two best-known digital identity verification systems -is the comprehensive aim of a comparative study. Estonia's e-Residency was launched in 2014. Non-Estonians can access Estonia's digital infrastructure and the EU market using a government-issued smart ID card. Such a program is customized for entrepreneurs, freelancers, and digital nomads, whereby an online, streamlined business management also encompasses the formation of a company, accounts in a bank, and filing of taxes. The advantages include the global reach, easy setup of businesses, and high level of security measures in the form of two-factor authentication and blockchain technology. The disadvantage of it being highly dependant on user's digital literacy and non-global awareness. India's Aadhaar, launched in 2009, looks for issuing a unique identification number to every resident of India, a number that would cover more than 1.3 billion people. It assimilates vast biometric and demographic data, allowing one to verify his or her identity so as to use various services such as banking, telecommunications, public distributions, and direct benefits transfer. The strength of the system lies in being all-inclusive with a biometric authentication process, hence very broad in application, as it entails full savings in government welfare schemes. However, Aadhaar, despite its low-cash delivery model, has pointed out high-profile breaches on account of its lack of privacy and security, with possible misuse of personal information, besides operational challenges such as technical glitches and exclusion of vulnerable populations. A comparison of these two systems will highlight distinct approaches to digital identity verification. Estonia has its e-Residency that aims to deliver a secure, effective digital infrastructure for the global entrepreneur using the most advanced technologies that assure the security and integrity of data. India's Aadhaar project on the other hand, aims at identity verification on a scale never done before, targeting an unprecedented all-inclusive delivery of benefits to a vast population but still afflicted with enormous problems around privacy and security concerns as well as practical problems. Both systems offer clues as to how such systems can be implemented and managed, making interesting trade-offs between scale, inclusiveness, security, and technological dependence. This comparison will be about the individual assumptions in their specific needs: tailoring an appropriate digital identity solution to national contexts and users, along with continuous negotiations of new challenges related to data privacy and security.

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