Why Digilocker is Not Working in the USA

It’s late at night, and you’ve just finished a crucial Zoom meeting with your team. The final step is to submit essential documents via Digilocker. Everything seems fine until you attempt to access your digital documents—and it fails. Frustration mounts as the platform, which works flawlessly in India, doesn’t seem to function in the United States. This is not an isolated incident. Many U.S. users have reported facing similar issues. But why?

India’s Digital Revolution vs. U.S. Digital Infrastructure

In the last few years, India has leaped forward in its digital revolution. Digilocker, launched by the Government of India, is one of the key projects under the Digital India initiative. It allows Indian citizens to store important documents like Aadhar cards, driving licenses, and educational certificates digitally. This system reduces the dependency on physical documents and streamlines governmental processes. It’s fast, secure, and easily accessible—if you’re in India.

However, when you take Digilocker across borders, especially to the U.S., things start falling apart. The primary issue lies in the system’s foundation and design, which is heavily integrated with Indian digital infrastructure. It was never designed to operate seamlessly in a global context.

Geofencing and Limited Availability

One of the most significant hurdles is geofencing. Many Indian apps and government platforms, including Digilocker, have restrictions that limit access based on geographical locations. This ensures security but also restricts the use of the platform outside of India. The U.S. doesn’t have access to Indian-based government APIs that power services like Digilocker.

Imagine trying to drive a car in a country where the roads don't support the type of fuel your car needs. That's precisely what happens when Digilocker attempts to function in the U.S. It's not just about user intent but also the limitations imposed by cross-border digital policies.

Why Isn't the U.S. Adopting Digilocker?

You may wonder, why hasn’t the U.S. embraced a similar system? After all, digital storage for essential documents seems like a logical next step in a world where everything is increasingly digitized. The answer lies in differences in governmental priorities, digital infrastructure, and privacy laws.

India’s Digilocker is deeply connected with its Aadhar system—a unique identification number that every Indian citizen holds. This makes the digital storage of documents linked to a centralized identification system possible. However, the U.S. lacks a comparable centralized identification system. The U.S. Social Security Number (SSN) could be seen as an equivalent, but its role is much narrower and far more sensitive in nature. It’s not tied into an ecosystem where digital documents can be linked and stored as easily as with Aadhar in India.

Moreover, privacy concerns in the U.S. make it difficult to implement a system like Digilocker without facing significant backlash. While India’s privacy laws are evolving, the U.S. is still wrestling with the balance between privacy and digital convenience.

The Core of the Issue: Legal and Data Privacy Concerns

Another crucial element preventing Digilocker from functioning in the U.S. involves legal frameworks and data privacy regulations. The U.S. operates under stricter data privacy laws like GDPR, which can clash with India’s more lenient digital data handling frameworks. Services like Digilocker, which store and transmit personal information, are required to meet these rigorous standards, something the platform isn’t structured to do outside of India.

In the U.S., even simple data transmission across borders must comply with strict legal agreements. Digilocker, designed primarily for Indian users, doesn’t have the required certifications and compliance with U.S. data protection laws like CLOUD Act, California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), or Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

This mismatch in privacy standards has resulted in a failure of Digilocker to work efficiently in the U.S. Without revising its operational model, Digilocker cannot seamlessly integrate or be legally adopted in U.S. markets.

U.S. Users Stuck in the Waiting Game

It’s not just legal and technical barriers that cause issues. There’s also a matter of international cooperation. Digilocker would require bilateral agreements between the U.S. and Indian governments to allow for the secure transmission of digital documents across borders. Without these agreements, Digilocker is essentially geo-blocked for U.S. users.

Furthermore, the U.S. has its ecosystem of digital document management. While Digilocker integrates well with Indian governmental systems like Aadhar, there’s no similar infrastructure to support it in the U.S. This makes it not just a matter of software incompatibility but also a mismatch in systemic functionality.

What about cloud-based alternatives in the U.S.? There are multiple systems available to U.S. citizens, such as Google Drive or Dropbox, but these aren’t tied to governmental systems in the way Digilocker is in India. This lack of synergy further complicates the adoption of a platform like Digilocker outside of India.

The Fragmented Nature of U.S. Document Management

Another key reason why Digilocker isn’t working in the U.S. is that document management in the U.S. is highly fragmented. Each state has its systems for managing documents like driver’s licenses, marriage certificates, or real estate records. There is no centralized federal digital repository that functions the way Digilocker does in India.

The federal structure of the U.S. makes it difficult to unify such efforts across different states, each with its regulations and standards. Digilocker, which depends on a centralized system, can’t navigate this complexity efficiently.

What Needs to Happen for Digilocker to Work in the U.S.?

To enable Digilocker to function effectively in the U.S., several changes need to occur:

1. Bilateral Agreements on Data Sharing: First, the governments of India and the U.S. would need to establish agreements allowing for the legal sharing of digital documents.

2. Compliance with U.S. Privacy Standards: Digilocker must evolve to meet the data privacy laws of the U.S. This would involve major revisions to its current operating framework to comply with GDPR-like standards and other local privacy laws.

3. Integration with U.S. Digital Infrastructure: The U.S. would need a more centralized approach to digital identification. The creation of a U.S.-based counterpart to India’s Aadhar would allow Digilocker to integrate into the American system. Without this, the platform will continue to face resistance in its operation outside of India.

4. Adoption by U.S. Users: The final hurdle is user adoption. Even if Digilocker could legally and technically function in the U.S., there’s still the matter of public trust and ease of use. Convincing American citizens to store sensitive personal documents in a system tied to another government would be a tough sell.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, the cross-border limitations, legal challenges, and lack of infrastructure all contribute to Digilocker’s inability to function in the U.S. Until significant changes in bilateral agreements, legal compliance, and technical integration happen, the platform will remain largely inaccessible to U.S. users.

The question remains: Is it worth it for the U.S. to invest in a similar system? With the rapid pace of digitization, it’s only a matter of time before countries begin to adopt more centralized systems for digital document storage. Whether Digilocker becomes the global standard or not, the U.S. will need to address its fragmented digital landscape sooner rather than later.