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

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

10283 - After a billion Aadhaar cards, UIDAI readies for next phase - Live Mint


The next phase will involve constant data updates, ramping up of capacity to handle half a billion transactions a day, says UIDAI CEO AB Pandey

Aadhaar is now the mainstay of the government’s direct benefit transfer programme after the enactment of the money bill. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint

New Delhi: With over a billion Aadhaar enrolments completed and empowered by a new law, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is looking to scale up operations and prepare for its next phase—one involving constant updates of data and ramping up capacity to eventually validate up to half a billion transactions daily, according to UIDAI chief executive A.B. Pandey.

As of Thursday, UIDAI has issued more than 1.03 billion Aadhaar cards, covering more than 85% of India’s population.
“Aadhaar is here to stay now that there is an Act. Earlier, when there was no Act, there may have been uncertainty over whether it will be continued with or not,” Pandey said in an interview.
Aadhaar is now the mainstay of the government’s direct benefit transfer programme after the enactment of the The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016.

All state benefits will now be directly transferred to intended beneficiaries’ bank accounts linked to the 12-digit biometric identity number provided by UIDAI, a step that is aimed at plugging leaks.
The Act has also removed uncertainty over a Supreme Court judgment that restricted the use of Aadhaar to select government schemes, including the cooking gas subsidy and payments under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
“Constant updates on biometrics, photographs, demography will happen every year. These could be around 12-13 crore every year. New enrolments will be made every year as children get enrolled,” he added.
UIDAI anticipates that the larger move towards a cashless economy will increase the need for Aadhaar-based authentications wherein UIDAI will help the government and financial institutions identify a beneficiary using biometrics like fingerprint and iris recognition.
“Authentication will become a major job. Every day 40-50 lakh people are biometrically authenticated through Aadhaar and we have the capacity to scale it up to 10 crore authentications. But then tomorrow if we require 50 crore authentications, then we should be able to achieve it. This will become our major activity as payment banks come in. Then there will be ticket reservations, attendance, and Bharat Bill Payment System that will be depen- dant on this. It will become a very critical infrastructure,” Pandey said.
The UIDAI will not charge for authenticating these transactions till December 2017, but there may be a rethink after that.
“As of now, this entire authentication process is fully funded by the government. We have decided no institution will be charged anything for a service till December 2017. After this date, a decision will be taken regarding this by the chairman and the members,” Pandey said, pointing out that imposing fees on individuals will be equivalent to denying people the right to have Aadhaar.
In line with the provisions of the Aadhaar Act, a chairman and members will soon be appointed at UIDAI and the regulations will be notified in two parts to enforce the Act.
N.C. Saxena, a member of the erstwhile Planning Commission, said authenticating 10 million transactions daily may be a more realistic figure in the near term.
“Aadhaar has three major advantages. Firstly, it eliminates duplication. Secondly, benefits would become portable and lastly, the whole concept of dual pricing can be eliminated without any loss to consumers,” he said.
“Even if 99% coverage is achieved by Aadhaar, it is a satisfactory figure and UIDAI should continue to fund it on its own as charging institutions for enrolments may not work,” Saxena added.