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, March 1, 2017

10857 - How this Indian company tapped a business opportunity in background checks - Forbes


With a proprietary platform, AuthBridge is carving out a niche in the background screening business of employees

BY SAMAR SRIVASTAVA Forbes India Staff
PUBLISHED: Feb 21, 2017

Ajay Trehan, founder and CEO of AuthBridge
Image: Amit Verma

When Ajay Trehan was running a business outsourcing company based in Gurugram in 2005, his overseas clients would often ask him if he’d done a background check on his employees. He hadn’t, and neither had most others. But the entrepreneur realised the business opportunity he could tap into. 

More than a decade later, AuthBridge, the background screening company Trehan, 45, set up in 2005, is on its way to becoming one of the largest homegrown players in an industry that is dominated by a few large players, including global majors such as First Advantage, and KMPG. 

A wide range of businesses—from private corporations to banks disbursing loans—are realising the need for background checks. It is not uncommon for prospective employees to include false information on their resumes; loan applicants, too, create fake identities.

AuthBridge estimates that although the market is small, at Rs 250 crore (there are no independent industry numbers available), the widespread issuance of Aadhaar cards, and the willingness of companies to share employee data, are making things easier.

AuthBridge, like other players in the industry, can access Aadhaar-related information to verify a person’s identity (the person has to sign a consent form for AuthBridge to access the data), with their photograph, date of birth, and father’s name. Such information is usually requested by banks to issue loans, and large-scale employers such as pizza delivery services. 

Accessing the Aadhaar database is a service AuthBridge started in May 2016. “In the last six months, since AuthBridge rolled out this service, we have seen inquiries rise from zero to 70,000 a month,” says Trehan, founder and CEO. 

But verifying employment claims is as important as verifying a person’s identity. When AuthBridge started functioning in 2005, its employees would call up companies and educational institutes mentioned by the people who they were checking up on, and ask for information. It was an inefficient and time-consuming process, prone to mistakes. 

AuthBridge decided to automate this process, and rolled out WorkAttest in January 2016, a proprietary platform where employers voluntarily share (after signing an agreement with AuthBridge) information about their employees. 

Fifteen companies, including US-based HR consulting firm ManpowerGroup, and Indian insurance firms such as ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, DHFL Pramerica, and Max Life Insurance, have agreed to share their employee data; discussions are on with 40 more companies. Firms agree to share this information with the long-term prospect of gaining access to the same database for investigating potential hires in future. Once a critical mass of companies come on board, AuthBridge plans to monetise the WorkAttest platform by allowing companies to access the database themselves.

Trehan is reticent about discussing numbers. All he says is that his company has a 25 percent share of the market (which amounts to Rs 62.5 crore) with a high rate of profitability. “We hope to maintain the 60 percent growth rate we had last year for each of the next five years,” he says. 

(This article is excerpted from the latest Forbes India 03 March, 2017 issue which is now available at news stands and book stores. You can buy our tablet version from Magzter.com)