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

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

9167 - The Aadhaar of a Unique Idea - The New Indian Express

By TSR Subramanian
Published: 12th December 2015 10:00 PM



The Aadhaar card is an idea which has come to stay in India. 

Already more than 70 crore Indians have Aadhaar identity, a remarkable achievement within a span of three to four years; as noteworthy as the spread of mobile telephony within one decade to the remotest part of India. The book by Nandan Nilekani and Viral Shah essentially relives the vicissitudes of creation of this Unique Identity programme; having outlived the original doubts, sharp opposition from the Home Ministry (then led by the redoubtable P Chidambaram, who was gunning for the Home Ministry’s alternate rival version card), groups questioning the feasibility of the programme as also the possibility of national sabotage though ‘sensitive’ population information reaching the wrong hands. Aadhaar has survived all these; the final victory being seal of approval by the Modi government. The authors have relived the roles played by many individuals and institutions, as well as the inevitable crises, dog-fights, road-blocks and scepticism en-route; surely with much delicate chest-thumping, no doubt deserved!

Rajiv Gandhi had once said that in all development programmes, only 16 per cent of the pay-load reaches the ultimate rural beneficiary; the distribution pipeline is highly faulty, politicised and reeking of corruption.

The Unique Identity, if properly used, can be a major vehicle for cleaning up the ‘payments’ system, to reach money or services to intended beneficiaries with minimal leakage, at least cost. Thus, as the Digital India Programme takes off, the impact on issues such as KYC (Know Your Customer), banking facilities in every part of India, micro-financing of small, tiny and atomic sector (which are now out of reach of formal financial institutions and are prey to private money lenders), and finally bringing a near-total cash economy to banking channels can all contribute significantly to system efficiency. Aadhaar is poised to be a key element in the success of the ambitious Digital India Programme, aggressively pursued by the government, which has potential to reach the 3,50,000 panchayats of the country, bridging the urban-rural divide. The Unique Identity is an important cog in this wheel.

Advances in technology need interlocking and converging forward movement in different fields to manifest itself. Indeed the Unique Card idea was proposed formally by many sources as early as the early 90s. But its time had not come, as the other supporting technologies had not arrived on the ground in India. One recalls that as early as the late 90s, the technology was available, the decision was taken and money allotted for commencement of a massive programme for computerising land-records, starting in two states—till date this has still not succeeded, due to major opposition, and vested interests of local authorities and petty politicians who stand to gain by keeping the rural land ownership scene confused and complicated. Indeed, Chandrababu Naidu started computerising urban land records to lead to seamless transparent urban land transactions, starting in Hyderabad and a number of other Andhra towns; even after two decades this is not a reality in most towns and cities in India. Technology per se is only a tool. It is not the final objective; the atmosphere for its application is essential.

Unique Identity is not a new concept in the world. The social service number concept of the US and other similar programmes in many countries, including Switzerland, are decades old. The Nilekani/Shah narrative sharply brings out the salient features of adapting technologies used in other countries to serve in Indian conditions. India in many ways is unique—many economists transplant foreign ideas into Indian soil, without appropriate modification to meet Indian requirements. 

The Aadhaar success story brings out clearly the lesson that every good idea cannot be automatically borrowed in India.
The authors have indulged in airy-fairy high-flown plans for nearly every sector of the economy: revamping education, reaching power to rural areas, bringing public health to the common man. These ideas have been floating for decades; they are also technological feasible. Nilekani and Shah have not said anything new here—technology is not enough, the system and the politics and culture have to accept change. One need not see too much in this book, except an account of a successful journey well planned for many decades, but whose time to succeed has arrived.