Power to the People? Popular Visions of Big Data in India's Aadhaar Program

Previous research has shown the crucial role economic and developmental motivators play in encouraging emerging state governments to engage with – and develop their capacity in – big data technology. But in this era of populism, it is essential to examine whether these policy visions are shared among the populations of the global South. Within the frame of a larger project exploring and explaining similarities and differences of data narratives in the global North and global South, this paper maps current public narratives of big and open data in relation to the world’s largest demographic and biometric data program, namely, India’s Aadhaar project. Drawing on both traditional media and a million Tweets, we illustrate, first, how emerging state populations and emerging state media view the economic challenges and opportunities arising from big data. Second, we evaluate these narratives in light of government policy visions in India. Lastly, we conclude by discussing the developmental and policy implications of data-driven popular narratives in the context of the global South.