In 2009, I became extremely concerned with the concept of Unique Identity for various reasons. Connected with many like minded highly educated people who were all concerned.
On 18th May 2010, I started this Blog to capture anything and everything I came across on the topic. This blog with its million hits is a testament to my concerns about loss of privacy and fear of the ID being misused and possible Criminal activities it could lead to.
In 2017 the Supreme Court of India gave its verdict after one of the longest hearings on any issue. I did my bit and appealed to the Supreme Court Judges too through an On Line Petition.
In 2019 the Aadhaar Legislation has been revised and passed by the two houses of the Parliament of India making it Legal. I am no Legal Eagle so my Opinion carries no weight except with people opposed to the very concept.
In 2019, this Blog now just captures on a Daily Basis list of Articles Published on anything to do with Aadhaar as obtained from Daily Google Searches and nothing more. Cannot burn the midnight candle any longer.
"In Matters of Conscience, the Law of Majority has no place"- Mahatma Gandhi
Ram Krishnaswamy
Sydney, Australia.

Aadhaar

The UIDAI has taken two successive governments in India and the entire world for a ride. It identifies nothing. It is not unique. The entire UID data has never been verified and audited. The UID cannot be used for governance, financial databases or anything. It’s use is the biggest threat to national security since independence. – Anupam Saraph 2018

When I opposed Aadhaar in 2010 , I was called a BJP stooge. In 2016 I am still opposing Aadhaar for the same reasons and I am told I am a Congress die hard. No one wants to see why I oppose Aadhaar as it is too difficult. Plus Aadhaar is FREE so why not get one ? Ram Krishnaswamy

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.-Mahatma Gandhi

In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.Mahatma Gandhi

“The invasion of privacy is of no consequence because privacy is not a fundamental right and has no meaning under Article 21. The right to privacy is not a guaranteed under the constitution, because privacy is not a fundamental right.” Article 21 of the Indian constitution refers to the right to life and liberty -Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi

“There is merit in the complaints. You are unwittingly allowing snooping, harassment and commercial exploitation. The information about an individual obtained by the UIDAI while issuing an Aadhaar card shall not be used for any other purpose, save as above, except as may be directed by a court for the purpose of criminal investigation.”-A three judge bench headed by Justice J Chelameswar said in an interim order.

Legal scholar Usha Ramanathan describes UID as an inverse of sunshine laws like the Right to Information. While the RTI makes the state transparent to the citizen, the UID does the inverse: it makes the citizen transparent to the state, she says.

Good idea gone bad
I have written earlier that UID/Aadhaar was a poorly designed, unreliable and expensive solution to the really good idea of providing national identification for over a billion Indians. My petition contends that UID in its current form violates the right to privacy of a citizen, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. This is because sensitive biometric and demographic information of citizens are with enrolment agencies, registrars and sub-registrars who have no legal liability for any misuse of this data. This petition has opened up the larger discussion on privacy rights for Indians. The current Article 21 interpretation by the Supreme Court was done decades ago, before the advent of internet and today’s technology and all the new privacy challenges that have arisen as a consequence.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP Rajya Sabha

“What is Aadhaar? There is enormous confusion. That Aadhaar will identify people who are entitled for subsidy. No. Aadhaar doesn’t determine who is eligible and who isn’t,” Jairam Ramesh

But Aadhaar has been mythologised during the previous government by its creators into some technology super force that will transform governance in a miraculous manner. I even read an article recently that compared Aadhaar to some revolution and quoted a 1930s historian, Will Durant.Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Rajya Sabha MP

“I know you will say that it is not mandatory. But, it is compulsorily mandatorily voluntary,” Jairam Ramesh, Rajya Saba April 2017.

August 24, 2017: The nine-judge Constitution Bench rules that right to privacy is “intrinsic to life and liberty”and is inherently protected under the various fundamental freedoms enshrined under Part III of the Indian Constitution

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the World; indeed it's the only thing that ever has"

“Arguing that you don’t care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don’t care about free speech because you have nothing to say.” -Edward Snowden

In the Supreme Court, Meenakshi Arora, one of the senior counsel in the case, compared it to living under a general, perpetual, nation-wide criminal warrant.

Had never thought of it that way, but living in the Aadhaar universe is like living in a prison. All of us are treated like criminals with barely any rights or recourse and gatekeepers have absolute power on you and your life.

Announcing the launch of the # BreakAadhaarChainscampaign, culminating with events in multiple cities on 12th Jan. This is the last opportunity to make your voice heard before the Supreme Court hearings start on 17th Jan 2018. In collaboration with @no2uidand@rozi_roti.

UIDAI's security seems to be founded on four time tested pillars of security idiocy

1) Denial

2) Issue fiats and point finger

3) Shoot messenger

4) Bury head in sand.

God Save India

Sunday, October 16, 2011

1699 - After Vashi, now Colaba in Raigarh! - Mid Day

By: Saurabh Katkurwar         Date:  2011-10-15         Place: Mumbai

More mistakes crop up in UID forms; SoBo applicants claim they have been asked to go through the registration process all over again

After reading MiD DAY's article ('10,000 unique IDs may reach wrong addresses', September 30) about unique ID acknowledgement copies of Vashi residents categorising them erroneously as inhabitants of Raigarh district, worried Colaba residents, whose forms had similar errors, approached their enrolment centre to request for corrections.

The apathetic data operators allegedly asked them to undertake the tedious enrolling process all over again.
Residents are infuriated with the operators, asking why they have not bothered to ask the technical wing in Bangalore to rectify what they insist is a 'software error', and are instead planning to make them stand under the sun in long queues and make them undergo the time-consuming process all over again.

There is a region called Kolaba in Raigarh, which could also be why the UID software is recognising residents of Colaba in South Mumbai as inhabitants of Raigarh district, officials said

Kolaba in Raigarh
The 'technical snag' may have something to do with the fact that there is a region called Kolaba in Raigarh district, causing the software to erroneously recognise residents of the South Mumbai locality as inhabitants of Raigarh, officials said.

The guidelines set by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), moreover, do not permit re-enrolment.

Sanjana Meher had enrolled for her UID number on July 27. Upon checking her form online a few days back, she was shocked to discover that the software had erroneously categorised her as a resident of the Raigarh district. Concerned that the form would reach the district far away from her home, Meher rushed to the centre.

Technical snag?
Unfazed and unapologetic, the operators attributed the errors to an unexplained 'technical snag' in the centralised software, and asked her to simply ignore the errors in the addresses, insisting that her UID number would reach the right address.

When she returned to the centre, the operator asked her to return to the office three months from the date of enrolment, telling her the entire process would have to be redone.

Meher said, "I cannot believe that we will have to go through the tiresome technical processes, such as biometric iris identification and fingerprint registration, all over again. The UIDAI should take some action to prevent this."

Beroze Barjorji, another resident of Colaba, said, "The enrolment process will be excruciating for us, as we are senior citizens. The last time, we had to stand in a long queue and go through an exhausting process. We are not ready to go through this all over again. The UIDAI should look into the matter and fix it."

The UID form of Beroze Barjorji, a resident of Colaba, which categorises her as a resident of Kolaba in Raigarh district; Sanjana Meher is also shown to be residing in Kolaba in her form

 
UTI Technology Services, the firm appointed to supply operators for the centre, admitted that the software had run into problems.

Milind Bagul, manager of UTI Technology Services Limited said, "We have heard reports about the planned re-enrolment for UID numbers in Colaba. We are looking into the matter and will iron out the problems as soon as possible."

Dr Ajay Bhushan Pandey, deputy director general of UIDAI said, "The UIDAI has not directed any agency to start re-enrolment. We will take action if the UID centre is found guilty of the allegations levelled against it by the residents of Colaba."

Over 100 errors
"More than 100 erroneous acknowledgement copies have been issued. This might have happened because the
enrolment agency did not send the correct pincode to officers manning the central server in Bangalore.

And now they are asking residents tore-enrol, instead of using asking the technical wing of UIDAI to use some kind of software patch," said a UIDAI official on condition of anonymity.    

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