“$1.3 Billion ill-spent,” Says Hotmail Co-founder On Aadhaar Card Tech

During a recent appearance on a podcast hosted by Prakhar Gupta, Sabeer Bhatia (co-founder of Hotmail) said that the huge amount spent on building the Aadhaar technology in India was unnecessary.

This happened on the podcast titled Prakhar Ke Pravachan. Entrepreneur Sabeer Bhatia said that the entire technology behind Aadhaar could have been developed for just $20 million.

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“$1.3 BILLION ILL-SPENT”

Highlighting how the unique identity problem could have been addressed with a video and voice printing technology, Bhatia said, “Aadhaar is like $1.3 billion ill spent.”

“Because Aadhaar took all of your biometrics, where is that being used? A better way to solve the problem of unique identity would be a video and voice printing technology. Simple. Which every smartphone user has. You can build it in under $20 million,” the Hotmail co-founder added.

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VOICEPRINTS AS THE UNIQUE IDENTIFIER 

According to Moneycontrol, Sabeer Bhatia further explained that voice prints of individuals could have been collected and securely stored in a database. 

This database could position itself as a unique identifier and also be used at airports for identity and security checks.

Sabeer Bhatia said, “At the airport, the moment somebody walked in, with the videos of the people walking in, the guys [security personnel] would not even have to check your card.”

Even though the Hotmail co-founder didn't specifically point to anyone, he said, “Whoever did this isn't a technologist. They don't know technology. They have never coded in their lives. That's why this problem exists.”

Sabeer Bhatia was asked if he was worried about criticizing and upsetting the team behind Aadhaar. He clarified that it wasn't his intention to anger or upset anyone. 

Bhatia said he would only like to “humbly” say that they should “use their brains.”

He concluded, “This is ill money ill spent. $1.3 billion! Are you kidding me?”

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THE INDIAN AADHAAR CARD

The Aadhaar card is currently based on a person's biometric and demographic information like fingerprints, iris scans, and photographs. 

The unique 12-digit number acts like a proof of identity (for opening a bank account, entering an airport, obtaining a driving license, ,etc.), is used to transfer government benefits directly, and gives access to government services.

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