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

Monday, April 3, 2017

10943 - Here’s why linking Aadhar to all services isn't much of a sensible step by the Modi government - BusinessInsider


SUCHAYAN MANDALMAR 29, 2017, 04.27 PM

All of a sudden, the same party that had opposed the idea of Aadhar, calling it a fraud scheme and assured of CBI enquiry if voted to power, has taken a U-turn from its own move only three years after ruling the country. While CBI is being engaged elsewhere, the finance minister Arun Jaitley has mandated the linking of Aadhar to PAN, driving licenses and several other documents. 

Why do we take U-turn? 
Before we jump in to analyze Aadhar and its allied insecurity, let’s get straight into philosophy of contradictions. What characterizes a critical thinker? American feminist historian Joan Wallach Scott would say “pointing a finger to contradictions.” French philosopher François Noudelmann in his book Le Génie du Mensonge (The Genius of Lies) portrays Michel Foucault as a man who has the courage of truth. 

Perhaps U-turns are a necessary ingredient for triggering intellectual blunders. And nobody better than NDA government knows that most of us struggle to maintain stability in psychological unity. And at such a juncture, contradictions produce destabilizing breaches in the self. 

How the government wants to go with Aadhar? 
The 12-digit number will be required for all citizens of India to file tax returns, driving licenses, filing EPF, getting railway tickets and a variety of other services. 


Why is it alarming? 
Firstly, we need to do understand how Aadhar cards were made. Terming the procedure as causal wouldn’t be an exaggeration. A card that started as a mere identity card was gradually made into a mechanism to gain benefits from the government and now even to get basic things done in life. 

The process of registering people on Aadhar was executed through private enterprises known as enrollers who operated freely without any government supervision at the field level. The qualifications needed to become an enrolment agency were quite low and nobody was from a recognized name. 

Also with the case of whether Aadhar would be mandatory for all these services still pending in the Supreme Court, taking such a move would be no less than violations of SC guidelines. 

Besides, there is zero privacy of an individual. Aadhar doesn’t guarantee any privacy and allows for mass surveillance of the countrymen under the vague term of ‘national security’. Only law that is valid in the case is Section 47 that only Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) can file criminal complaint for theft of data. 

Government is the new Big Boss 
No you aren’t criminal that you would need to hide. But let’s admit it nobody wants to be tracked by a big brother. Imagine the scene when somebody knows how much you earn and spend, where you holiday and which flight did you take on your last office trip, which hotel did you put up and what broadband do you use. And for many people in the country who work on contracts and you will track every penny you earn even if you don’t work throughout the year. 

And for the people who defend the bill saying you can share your personal data with Google and Facebook, then why not with government? Tell them, there is a difference between choice and compulsion. And one can just track you and the other one can prevent you.