Introduction Introduction Why we conducted this study Figure 2: Coverage of the research The residents’ view is under-represented in today’s discourse around everyday lives. This 2019 edition provides a pan-India view of Aadhaar, the world’s largest digital ID system. The State of Aadhaar residents’ experience by drawing on the largest dataset on the use initiative aims to understand what aspects of Aadhaar are working of Aadhaar to date. Our ambition is that this study will inform data- and what aspects are not for those who interact with Aadhaar in their driven discourse and decision-making. What we studied In this study, we sought to understand people’s journey with Aadhaar These experiences inform their overall sentiment towards and trust of (see Figure 1). People begin their journey by enrolling in Aadhaar. Aadhaar. Along the journey, they may face inclusion or exclusion; they They may later need to update demographic, biometric, or contact may experience benefits or challenges; and their daily activities may information. Over time, they may use Aadhaar to access a range of become easier or more difficult. services, provided by both the government and the private sector. Figure 1: The Aadhaar journey GETTING & UPDATING AADHAAR ENROLMENT UPDATING USING AADHAAR LINKING AUTHENTICATION SUMMATIVE EXPERIENCE SERVICE DELIVERY Our key research questions covered: Aadhaar enrolment • How many are enrolled? Who is not yet enrolled—and why? Aadhaar updates • • • How many updates are needed, i.e., how common are errors? Do errors get corrected? What is the update experience? Using Aadhaar to access services • • • How widely and how frequently is Aadhaar used? What is the experience of using Aadhaar for key services (PDS, Given the limitations of survey methodologies, we focused only on questions that residents were MGNREGS, social pensions, SIM cards, and bank accounts)? able to answer credibly through a survey format. There are many valuable questions, related to the If residents face problems with Aadhaar, how does that affect experience of both people and providers that our study cannot answer—among them, the following: their access to services? And how easy or difficult is the process? Across the journey • • • Limitations of the study What benefits and challenges do they see? How satisfied are people with Aadhaar overall? Do they trust the system? • • • • To what extent can perceived benefits and challenges be attributed to Aadhaar? What are residents’ worries about privacy and surveillance with respect to Aadhaar? To what extent has Aadhaar benefitted government? To what extent has Aadhaar benefitted private-sector actors? Surveys are also inherently limited by the framing, sequence, translation, communication, and interpretation of questions. We have tried to minimise biases arising from these limitations through a rigorous review process and extensive enumerator training, but some will inevitably remain. How we conducted the study This study is based on findings from two national surveys on Aadhaar May to September 2019. The survey output is a public dataset that that gathered the experiences and perspectives of over 167,000 allows anyone to conduct their own analyses - to add nuance to the residents in India—representing the largest primary dataset on the findings reported here or to create their own. use of digital ID in the world. We conducted a 10-minute pulse survey Structure of the report As we present our findings in the pages below, readers will follow people's Aadhaar journey from with 147,868 respondents across 28 states and union territories and a In preparation for the study, we received inputs from more than 30 obtaining Aadhaar (enrolling and updating) to using it in their daily lives. We then share people’s 45-minute in-depth survey with 19,209 respondents across 16 states experts and from over 50 residents in 7 locations across Maharashtra perceptions and levels of satisfaction with a range of aspects of Aadhaar, and discuss cross-cutting and 1 union territory.1 After the survey analysis, we conducted in-depth and Jharkhand. Throughout our study, we received guidance on themes that affect the entire user journey. Finally, we conclude with questions for further research. interviews using human centred design (HCD) research with 103 research and survey design as well as analysis from nine technical people in 4 states (see Figure 2). All data collection took place from and subject matter experts on our Technical and Advisory Panels. 1. 3 In our findings, we report numbers from the larger dataset (pulse survey) whenever possible. Most findings, however, are from the in-depth survey since this covered far more questions. From the pulse survey we projected India-wide population estimates. From the in-depth survey we only projected population estimates for the states and union territories covered in that survey. 4