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

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

11410 - How WannaCry Ransomware attack will affect Banking operations, ATMs, Aadhaar and hacking of other personal details - India.Com

How WannaCry Ransomware attack will affect Banking operations, ATMs, Aadhaar and hacking of other personal details

In a country like India, about 60 percent of the 2.25 lakh ATMs run on Windows XP, an operating software. The cyber attack also brings focus back on data security after Aadhaar details of a large number of Indians found their way on websites.


By Sandhya Dangwal | Updated: May 15, 2017 5:34 PM IST

New Delhi, May 15: Demonetisation woes revisited Indians on Monday in form of WannaCry Ransomware after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) advised all banks to start the ATM operations only after software update in the light of malware attack. Though there were no reports of financial institutions in India being hit by WannaCry Ransomware, the authorities concerned are leaving anything to chance. The cyber attack also brings focus back on data security after Aadhaar details of a large number of Indians found their way on websites.
Banking in India was limping back to normalcy after November 8 demonetisation but WannaCry Ransomware once again derailed all financial operations across the nation. Even in April there were reports of currency note shortage from many parts of the country after a long week-end that saw ATMs running dry within couple of hours. The decision of the banks to restrict the number of free ATM transactions every month did not help the situation either. The RBI has now directed banks to operate their ATMs only after the installed computer systems have received a special Windows update to protect them from WannaCry ransomware. The directive comes in the wake of the ‘WannaCry’ cyber attack that is spreading like wildfire across the globe since Friday.
The WannaCry program gets into your computer, either by clicking on the wrong thing or downloading the wrong thing and then encrypts your files and demands payment in bitcoin in order to regain access. Software giant Microsoft was quoted by BBC saying that the recent cyber attack that has hit over 150 countries in the last week should be considered as a “wake-up call”. Users have been cautioned for not opening attachments or click on links that they did not trust.
In a country like India, about 60 percent of the 2.25 lakh ATMs run on Windows XP, an operating software. The ATM machines mostly run on Windows software and are extremely vulnerable to the cyber attack. “RBI has asked banks to update specific Windows patches on ATMs urgently and not to operate ATM machines unless updates are in place,” a public sector bank official was quoted by the Economic Times.
The linking if Aadhar card to bank accounts increased the threat at the surface. A report by Financial Express quoted Pradipto Chakrabarty, Regional Director, CompTIA India saying that since the user’s bank account is linked with his Aadhaar number, the ransomware can potentially lock down the account and make it unusable unless a ransom is paid.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has issued a statement informing that the company has developed and released a special update for Windows XP. It also mentioned that this particular version of its operating system is no longer serviced by the company. The bitcoin wallets linked to the ransomware saw transactions worth $34,300 indicating that a small percentage of affected users were paying the ransom money, TOI reported.
If the case of ATMs was to be taken, there is no data stored in the machine and neither is there storage of any kind that will block transactions. Manohar Bhoi, President at Electronic Payments and Services was quoted by TOI saying that even if a machine were to get affected it can be reformatted and put to use immediately. Electronic Payments and Services is a management services firm that handles ATMs for public sector banks. Bhoi further said that this can be done remotely and usually the vendors run their tests on the patch before an update. The WannaCry attack began on Friday night with thousands of ransomware attacks on computers in over 100 countries, including India. Till now, 16 hospitals in England, the Interior Ministry of Russia has been a victim of the malicious ransomware software. Meanwhile, Telefonica in Spain, FedEx USA and Academic Institutes in China have also fallen a prey to Ransomware.

Published Date: May 15, 2017 5:23 PM IST | Updated Date: May 15, 2017 5:34 PM IST