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 8, 2017

10875 - Aadhaar Articles Dated 4th March 2017



Times of India
NEW DELHI: Cook-cum-helpers working under the Midday meal scheme as well as the student beneficiaries will now be required to have an Aadhaar ...
Aadhaar link to midday meals - Calcutta Telegraph



YourStory.com
Indian Railways announced on March 2, 2016, that they will be working to integrate the Aadhaar card with the online train ticket booking system as a ...






Economic Times
The Railways will soon move towards Aadhaar-based online ticketing system to prevent touts from blocking a bulk of tickets, end fraudulent bookings ...



Business Standard
Recent incidents of alleged storage of biometrics and its subsequent unauthorised use has exposed vulnerabilities in the Aadhaar ecosystem.






Hindustan Times
The government says over 1.13 billion people – or more than 90% of the eligible population – are registered under the Aadhaar programme.(PTI file ...






Hindu Business Line
Ever since the unique identification scheme, known as Aadhaar, was first introduced in 2009, naysayers have been warning of the potential danger ...






The Indian Express
aadhaar, Aadhaar card, aadhaar card benefits, Supreme Court aadhaar card, aadhaar card The UIDAI system is completely ignorant of the usage of ...



Times of India
As the discussion on UPI versus wallets ensues, experts say it is UPI, Aadhaar based payments that will push next wave of digital adoption.






Business Standard
Soon you will have to provide some proof of your identity, through your Aadhaar number, PAN card, passport or driving license number, at the time of ...






Livemint
Mumbai: Axis Bank Ltd is not at fault in the recent controversy that resulted in the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) suspending it from ...






Hindu Business Line
Announcing that the government will soon launch Aadhaar Pay, Ravi Shankar Prasad had recently said that this mode of payment would help people ...






findBIOMETRICS
As Safran Identity & Security suggests in a new post on its website, Aadhaar is going to be used in the “Street to School” campaign. Approved by the ...






Daily News & Analysis
MobiKwik is in the process of reworking its business model as the future of mobile wallets is being increasingly questioned with the emergence of ...






Greater Kashmir
The EPFO has clarified that obtaining of Aadhaar should be mandatory for the time being only for final settlement of Pension and not in withdrawl ...



Economic Times
It becomes all the more alarming when the government is universalising Aadhaar-based payment system as it prepares to turn India into a less-cash ...






Economic Times
NEW DELHI: The government has instructed banks to link all savings accounts with mobile and Aadhaar numbers by March 31, 2017, and enable ...






Hindustan Times
“We already have collated the data of 1,12703 students of government schools and the profiles were linked with their Aadhaar card numbers before ...






The Hindu
A majority of the complaints were from parents who said there was a mismatch between the address on their Aadhaar card and the online form.






Moneycontrol.com
The government has already launched BHIM that uses biometric for receiving Aadhaar-enabled payments bypassing debit cards, pin and password.