Key truth: Parents, on average, request for this. They hold the school/university (not their wards) accountable for anything that happens to their wards.
While India is culturally diverse in some ways, it is also very culturally homogenous in different ways. Because Indian society generally agrees that young adults should be closely watched until about 21-23 the relative lack of some freedoms is accepted as normal.
Add to this the APAAR ID — which is linked to the biometric based Aadhaar number — which is being coerced by colleges and schools to obtain and share with them. Centralized surveillance combined with poor (or close to no) security measures never had it this easy as it has been in India over the last decade and a half. The government itself violates the privacy of residents and puts them in danger through these.
On paper, APAAR ID and Aadhaar are optional. But on the ground, things get very hairy and difficult if you do not submit yourself, get those and provide those everywhere. As a school or college student, imagine not being allowed to appear for important exams or not getting your certificates without providing these.
Culturally, there is no concept of privacy and there is no sizable movement for privacy in the country. Privacy intrusions are easily dismissed as “western concerns”.
> This is the same argument as “If you don’t like the way they collect data, why don’t you stop using an iPhone/GMail/Social Media”. Reasonable legislation eventually notice that this extreme form of libertarianism can hurt people, because of the imbalance of the negotiating power. Note that car manufacturers must install seat belts; they don’t get to say “if you think our car is unsafe, just buy another”.
Too much power in too few hands leaves no alternative.
Seems the colleges that don’t engage in this practice could run ads “we aren’t a jail” and shame the market into a correction?
I love how Silicon Valley and Hacker News is a west coast thing so other parts of America are irrelevant but there's an exception for India. Of course, all the Big Tech corporations are filled with them so it suddenly becomes relevant in this forum.
There are forward thinking universities/academicians as well. Here's an article by an academician: https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/india-s-universities-li...
(We run 25+ UG programs in India. If someone would like to engage deeper on this with ideas on how we can improve, pls reach out)