Regulation of Personal Biometric Data: Understanding Usage and Processing Law in India

Biometric data usage has become very prevalent in the past few years, but the benefits its brings also comes with a fair share of challenges. This paper argues that the law for collection, storage and usage of biometric data in India is not adequate to balance the rights of the individuals vis a vis businesses or the State. It is first argued that there are technical limitations in the safety of personal biometric data through the exploration of the Aadhar project, then the paper further explores the impact of processing of biometric data through analyzing usage by private entities. The paper further contextualizes the Indian and EU law to identify the pitfalls in regulation of biometric data. The paper concludes by stating that the laws currently are not enough and constructive suggestions to fill the identified gap are made.