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, December 7, 2016

10553 - Picture imperfect - The Hindu

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM OCTOBER 21, 2016 15:55 IST


Illustration: Sreejith R.Kumar  

Photographs on identity cards seldom resemble the hapless owner of the card

These are days of great convenience when booking train tickets doesn’t mean standing in long queues for hours with a book and a packed lunch handy, maybe even a small pillow for a quick afternoon snooze if you expect to spend the better part of the day creeping towards the ticket counter at a speed that would send the snail sniggering into its shell. The option of online booking has taken care of all that but, mind you, it’s not always smooth sailing.

The first time I travelled with the details of my train ticket on my mobile, I was pretty apprehensive. When the booking was made I wanted a printout of the ticket but was told it wasn’t necessary; nothing would go wrong as long as I had my ID card with me.

But first time jitters continued. What if my temperamental phone decided to stop working? What if its battery went dead? What if the message with the details disappeared? All these ‘what if’s kept troubling me and I almost greeted the TTE like a long lost friend when he came to my coach half an hour into the journey. Once he checked the ticket, I could relax.

The phone didn’t let me down. I located the message and held the mobile under the TTE’s nose. He nodded and asked for my ID proof. He took one look at my Voter ID card and turned pale, as if he had seen a ghost. He almost had, only it wasn’t as much a ghost as a ghoul that glared fiendishly at him from the photo on the card. He jumped back, looking at me with fearful respect. ‘That’s ...your... picture?’ He stammered. “Yes,” I said, sorely tempted to snarl and imitate my photographic alter ego.

I got my Voter ID card years back when the procedure involved going to the polling booth on the date designated to complete the formalities of identification, address proof and other details and get your photograph taken. Now the process is much simpler and easier on the eye too, since you provide the passport size photo. But those who got the cards through the earlier method know that the photos on them, clicked carelessly in a nanosecond, are in a league of their own. They could all jostle for space in the rogues’ gallery, and no questions asked.
I was appalled when I got my card. Dark, irregular blotches on my cheeks were complemented by light patches in innovative designs on my chin and forehead. My lips were curved in a snarl while my eyes bulged out like a bull frog’s, except that they were fixed in an intense glare. And I had no neck.

The only photos to beat the Voter ID specimens are the Aadhaar pictures. When we went to the Aadhaar enrolment centre we heard someone ask if the photos would be as dreadful as those on the Voter ID cards. The lady in charge was indignant. ‘Never,’ she snorted. ‘This equipment is much more sophisticated. And we take greater care.’

When the cards were delivered home, my husband’s card was on top. The greatest care had definitely been taken. One glance at his reinvented mug shot, and my son Amar and I doubled with laughter while my husband stared in horror at his menacing spectacled gaze with his lips curled like a villain’s. But Amar stopped with a gasp when his Aadhaar special face popped up from the next card while my husband joined in. Amar’s bearded image wore the mother of all frowns while his lips were set incongruously in a pout, ‘quite like Marilyn Monroe’s’, commented my husband while I wiped tears of mirth from my eyes.

The others hollered and I gulped when it was the turn of my card. For the photographer had reserved his best for me. He had decided that a patchwork complexion suited me most; I had a squint in one eye and a glazed look in the other, like a fish on a slab. My nose, never noticeable at the best of times, was practically missing while my mouth resembled a vampire’s. And I still had no neck. Whatever people might have said about Aadhaar, there is no denying that its photos have provided much merriment throughout the country. There is no photoshopping here, only photoshocking.

When the TTE almost tossed my Voter ID card back and turned away with a shudder, I wished I had brought my Aadhaar card along. Who knows, he might have seen the funny side.
(khyrubutter@yahoo.com)

[A fortnightly column by the city-based writer, academic and author of the Butterfingers series]

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