Some clarifying info, since the title is kinda clickbait—the AADHAAR card doesn't have any biometric info for it. It just has a number. The biometric info lies with the government who can then authenticate an individual based on it.<p>This whole AADHAAR linking business has been a point of contention in India over the last year as the government is slowly mandating linking your AADHAAR number with all kinds of contracts and services, from rental contracts to telecom providers to bank accounts.<p>If anyone deserves blame for this kerfuffle, it's the government.
The slippery for aadhar card is on full display here. Few years back when this biometric identity card was introduced the government promised not to make it mandatory and now your cannot even shop online without this card.
Amazon only requires id when you order from Amazon Global, and that's because customs requires Indians to provide identity and address proof when you're importing something. If you don't want to provide it to Amazon, you have the option of providing it to the courier service (FedEx/Aramex/whatever). Also, you can provide any other address proof like driving license, electricity bill, voter id etc. Aadhaar is convenient because it is one of the few documents that are accepted as proof of both identity and address (passport, driving license, voter id and ration card are the others).<p>So, yes, clickbait article.
Amazon is not asking for any biometrics. They are asking for your Adhaar number. The government has an authentication API that can confirm your identity for Amazon using the number. They can do this authentication by email, by phone, or by fingerprints.<p>This whole FUD about Adhaar is really sad to see. It's a useful service and we desperately need a national ID. Until now different things require different IDs. Voting card, ration card, PAN card, Passport, Driving license, and so on. With Adhaar we finally have the chance to move to one unique ID for every citizen. Of course like everything done by government, there are inefficiencies and bureaucracy, but it's markedly less than what we face in other IDs.
A ID number to buy stuff? I remember hearing about that somewhere. I think it was an old book? Someone should tell China, their life gamification score could benefit... ID theft and all.