Citizen Information System sounds like it provides information TO citizens. Instead, it provides information ABOUT citizens.

Yes, we should also think of a framework which makes it convinient for a government department to provide its services online to citizens. (there are many such CMS tools, a multilingual one can easily be adopted)

However, depending on the kind of service, the access may need to be authorized. 1) Viewing tendors, notifications, documents - open access 2) submitting forms online etc - authorized access.

To effectively handle the 2nd kind of service, a centralized system can be useful. (another potential use of CIS)

May I recommend Nineteen Eighty-Four? While you are at it, Brave New World, Farenheit 451, Animal Farm, Lord of the Flies, The rise and fall of the Third Reich are also good to read.

Many developed countries already have such unique ID systems.. and they are nothing like the big brother society discussed in Nineteen Eighty-Four.. you cannot get to that situation in a democracy of billion plus people..

Modification of the data can render your identity pretty useless. Merely reading that data and correlating it across databases can cause serious havoc. Identity theft isn't a mere buzzword.

I can understand your concerns, identity theft is indeed a serious problem in the west.

Identity theft can always occur, with or without such a database.. and it depends on the checks being used to identify a person.. EVEN now, if I get a driving license with the name of Devdas Bhagat by paying a bribe at the RTO, I can use it to travel in your name.. open a bank account... etc etc.

Which is why if such a database can store some biometric information.. (pictures, fingerprints for example).. it will, in fact, serve to minimize any identity theft.. if an organization still relies solely on publicly available data (address, age etc) to identify you, they are being foolish.. this is NOT the fault of the database.

Still, we have to be very careful about classifying A) what data needs to be private, accessable to tax/law authorities only (financial data, things that can be mis-used) B) what MAY be made public (perhaps depending on the preference of the citizen) .. address/contact/family details.. ? C) what NEEDS TO be made available, perhaps some of it to specific agencies only, and not the public directly (loan defaults... criminal records? although one can argue that it can unnecessarily prejudice people against a "reformed" criminal ?)

I am not sure if our existing cyber-crime laws address issues related to identity theft, privacy and data protection... anyways, the point is -- such a system could be very useful, of course, we would need to have the adequete safegaurds in place to prevent any misuse .. but that doesnt mean that u stop thinking about developing such a system, it merely means that u think even harder and try to plug any potential loopholes in the scheme.

About the only way your proposal could work would be if the idea of privacy is completely destroyed. No one has any privacy, and the database is fully accessible to everyone all the time. The only private thing you would possess would be your thoughts.

I think you are over-estimating the power of such a database.. it would be very difficult to store ALL the details of a billion people and still make it easily searchanble and useful.. So, such a database can only ever have a very few details.. (storing fingerprint/pics itself could take a lot of space)

i can probably learn more about your thoughts from reading all your posts to this forum (publicly available) than by getting a few other details from a database (sex, age, ID, educational qualifications)... I cannot do anything extra with it, that i cannot do now...

unless, you have stored all your credit card details on your hotmail account, and your secret question in case of forgotten passwords is your age, and your age was a best-kept secret until this CIS database went live. that would be like carrying a paper with all your PIN witten inside your wallet! u dont start arguing for a 23 different PIN based ATM system from your bank..

it only invades your privacy if you had something to hide ... you were an illegal immigrant from Bangaladesh, a terrorist who has sneaked into india and doesnt have a proper ID.. you had taken a huge loan from a bank in nagaland and had disappeared, you had a criminal past.. you are a middle aged woman who keeps on claiming she is only 26.. you were a married guy fooling around with a girl .. (if marital status/age are chosen to be "public" details)