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, February 12, 2017

10838 - Google to remove Play Store apps that violate privacy policy - BGR

Google to remove Play Store apps that violate privacy policy

By Deepali Moray | Published: February 10, 2017 4:05 PM IST

House to millions of apps is set to shrink. Google is reportedly purging its Android Play Store of apps which do not abide by its privacy policy. The company is reportedly sending out notifications to app developers warning them of limiting visibility of their apps or even a complete removal for violating Google’s User Data Policy. According to the policy, “malicious apps that abuse or misuse any network, device, or personal data are strictly prohibited.”

On its developer policy center, Google details the policy and explains that the app developer must be transparent about how the user data is handled through their app. For example, if an app uses information provided by a user, or about the users’ usage of the app or the device, then they are required to disclose the collection, use and sharing of the data in the description. Additionally, if an app handles personal or sensitive user data, for example in the case of fitness apps, then there are additional requirements listed in the policy.
In its letter to developers, as noted on The Next Web, the Play Store Team is asking developers to provide a valid privacy policy on the app’s Store Listing Page and within the app. If any developer wants to opt-out of this requirement then they can do so by removing the requests or permissions made by the app for sensitive user data. Deadline for complying with the said orders is March 15, 2017, following which, the app can either be removed or its visibility will be limited.

“There nothing really new here. The update to our privacy policy (in the Google Play Developer Program Policies) was actually made last August and is consistent with industry practices. Since then, we have been sending regular reminders to developers to comply with this change. This is part of our effort to improve policy awareness with developers and reduce any preventable disruption to their apps availability on Play,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement.

Other than offering apps for the world’s most popular OS, Google Play Store is also house to a trove of zombie or junk apps. In a recent security report by Cheetah Mobile, it was discovered that about 50 percent of Android users have been affected by malicious apps promoting malware. There unwanted apps force install on the devices and are difficult to remove. As part of the clean up drive, Google aims to take on the millions of non-compliant apps available across the Play Store which are in turn affecting user experience. With removal of such apps, the chances of discovery for legitimate apps will also witness a boost. 


To help make Play Store a house of legitimate, malware-free apps, Google has periodically announced crackdown on apps which stand in violation of its policies. In late last year, Google planned to tackle app ratings and reviews which were fake. The company announced that it was improving its detection system to identify and remove fake ratings and reviews for spam apps. Such illegitimate reviews and ratings were benefitting app developers who relied on paid reviews and ratings to boost their rankings on the Play Store.

Recently, illegal Play Store apps which were found to be misusing Aadhaar-related data of users have been shutdown on the directive of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). The organization has reportedly shutdown 12 mobile apps available on the Google Play Store. These apps and websites were allegedly charging excessive fee for services which are otherwise free for public such as downloading of Aadhaar card or status of its generation, etc. By doing so, these services were illegally obtaining Aadhaar card number or enrolment details of the public, which is a punishable offence.