AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 11734 - Aadhaar data can be stolen easily, techie arrested for theft holds demonstration

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, August 9, 2017

11734 - Aadhaar data can be stolen easily, techie arrested for theft holds demonstration - North Lines

Aadhaar data can be stolen easily, techie arrested for theft holds demonstration

By Northlines -

August 6, 2017

Aadhaar data can be stolen easily, techie arrested for theft holds demonstration

In a six hour demonstration, a Bengaluru techie and entrepreneur showed the police how easy it was for him to access Aadhaar data from the UIDAI data base. Abhinav Srivastava was arrested last week for the data theft following a complaint by the UIDAI authorities.

Cyber crime police in Bengaluru recorded Abhinav’s modus operandi which highlighted a glaring security chink, the lack of Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) in the URL that helped Abhinav access details. The founder of an Ola subsidiary firm, Qarth Technologies Pvt Ltd, Abhinav used shortcuts to access data from various websites that used Aadhaar data.

HTTPS consists of communication over Hypertext Transfer Protocol within a connection encrypted by Transport Layer Security. In simpler terms, it is a far better secure connection than the HTTP. HTTPS is aimed at authentication of the visited website and protection of the privacy and integrity of the exchanged data. The lack of it helped the accused hack into an e-hospital website.

On initial investigation, it was found that Abhinav accessed Aadhaar information from an e-hospital’s server hosted by the National Informatics Centre. The hospital was a Know Your Customer user agency which has tied up with the UIDAI. Abhinav hacked into the hospital’s system and linked the information on its server to an app that he developed.

The app, which was available on google store, has been removed now. It was able to redirect users to the e-hospital’s servers to access KYC data. Even as he claimed that he did not steal any information but only gave access to a server, using Aadhaar data without prior permission from the UIDAI is a violation of the Aadhaar law.

Abhinav who holds a masters degree from IIT-Kharagpur used the loopholes in the e-hospital’s URL to gain access to its unsecured servers. With his app, anyone could access details about anyone who had an Aadhaar card breaching the privacy of individuals. Following a complaint by the UIDAI, the High grounds police in Bengaluru booked Abhinav, his company and its promoters for accessing secure Aadhaar database and leaking information under sections 37, 38, 29(2) of Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act 2016, sections 65 and 66 of the IT Act.