UID wont invade privacy: Nilekani

Brushing aside concerns that the cost of the Unique Identification Number Project UID would be prohibitive,Unique Identification Authority of India UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani on Friday said the project should not cost more than Rs 20,000 crore. Speaking at a two-day workshop on UID here,Nilekani also rubbished fears that UID would invade privacy. Details of 700 million voters are already on the Web. Similarly,a cellphone,which allows the tracking of a persons location and address,can be a greater oppresser of privacy as compared to UID,8221; he said. UIDAI Director General R S Sharma assured that their datebase would be innocuous and will not include any information pertaining to a citizens caste,religion or date of birth.