Help Nandan Nilekani Achieve

Summarising again - UID is just a number

2009-11-15T09:25:00.000+05:30

To summarise what we have read until now,
(1) The UID is just a number
(2) The UID will just inform the inquirer whether the person is alive or not
(3) Will be made compulsory over a period of 15-20 years

My 2 bits.
(a) If there is no face linked to a UID, can I not still open a bank account with a falsified document of Harry whose UID I know?
(b) Can I still not buy a SIM card using some false documents as I do now?
(c) How does the business establishment owner ensure that the UID is indeed that of the customer who has walked into his business premise and asked for some service or product?

Summary of comments until now

2009-09-09T11:01:00.000+05:30

(1) PAN card cannot be used as the Unique card since it is also issued to companies (Narendra)
(2) Unique card will definitely be helpful (all are upbeat about this)
(3) Passport number to be a part of the UIN
(4) Card should be a biometric card (Rajesh)

Now further questions:

When someone comes to a cyber center and shows his UID, or someone buys a SIM card with the card as identification, how does the business owner identify that the card is indeed his and not stolen? Does every business establishment owner have to buy aditional software/hardware?
Should the photograph be a part of the ID card? Signature? What else? And why? Can we discuss the plus and minus points of each of these?
Can we focus more on how to make the system secure and really unique? If someone applies for a card, if the system finds that he is applying for a 2nd card inspite of already having a card, is our establishment strong enough to trace him/her physically so that he/she can be locked up??
How do we guarantee that every individual is covered and has the unique card after (say) 2 years?

Is a new card required?

2009-08-04T20:21:00.000+05:30

As it stands, we have a number of cards - Voter ID, PAN card, Driving License, Ration card, Senior Citizens Card, etc. Would it have been prudent to make the PAN card as unique instead of going for an entirely new one?