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, October 31, 2017

12171 - Scrap Aadhaar, it’s snatching away our right to food, privacy: Citizens - TNN



tnn | Updated: Oct 27, 2017, 07:52 IST

BENGALURU: "The lines on our fingers have faded due to the nature of work and it is the only source of income for our families. But the ration shop dealer is turning us away saying our biometric data does not match," rued 60-year-old Jayamma, an agarbatti maker living in Samil slum of Cottonpet. 

She was one among the many aggrieved members from marginalized communities who took part in the public hearing on Aadhaar-related denial of social security held here on Thursday and aired their woes. 

Organized by the Right to Food (RTF) campaign, an informal network of individuals and organizations committed to the realization of the right to food in India, the hearing sought to bring to light the exclusionary nature of Aadhaar and its misuse to systematically isolate the needy despite repeated Supreme Court orders reiterating its voluntary nature. 

Jayamma complained that introduction of the biometric system to verify beneficiaries at ration stores has turned her life miserable. She hasn't received her share for the past two months. "The ration shop dealer is also threatening us with cancellation of the card if we don't get the issue rectified but several trips to the food commissioner's office yielded no results," she said. 

Chandrika, a 39-year-old woman who has been living with HIV for the past 20 years, is facing a different problem. She pointed out that making Aadhaar mandatory to avail the life-saving antiretroviral (ART) therapy is in violation of the right to privacy. "We have the right to confidentiality about our status. Many people like me have stopped using this drug because our treatment, if linked with Aadhaar, would reveal our HIV status. We live in a society where there's a lot of stigma and discrimination against persons living with HIV/AIDS. I reject Aadhaar as it goes against my right to life," she said. 

With the provisions of rations, medical care in case of serious conditions like cancer, tuberculosis, HIV-AIDS, midday meals, pensions, gas connections, abortions, sonograms and even death certificates being dependant on Aadhaar seeding and linking, most beneficiaries have been made to run from pillar to post. Violation of privacy and overarching threat of constant surveillance are the concern for the middleclass urban citizens. 

Aggrieved citizens from Ramanagara, Kolar, Belagavi, Tumakuru and Chikkaballapura put their 'testimonies' before a panel of experts for their adjudication. A compilation of complaints and recommendations will be placed before the SC as it begins hearing from October 30.

Usha Ramanathan, legal expert and scholar, said the reports by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) itself suggested that biometric information was unsuitable for authentication. "They themselves have admitted that using biometric information to verify anyone's identity is faulty, making it much worse for daily wager workers. Now that we know it's a failure, why can't we go back to a system that works for the public? The administration should administer in accordance with the law," she said. 

TOP COMMENT
Of course, ''Col Thomas Mathews'' would have a problem with Aadhar. Predictable scum. So what if fingerprints have faded (if at all - as per numerous studies, fingerprints don''t change their unique ... Read More
S R



Don't punish beneficiaries 


The Right to Food is a fundamental one but it is being sabotaged and misused because of this sham identification mechanism. If the government says it is to remove fake and ghost cards from the system, they also need to investigate criminals who allowed this malpractice in the first place, instead of punishing beneficiaries. Form a special investigation team for this

-Col. Matthew Thomas, petitioner in the right to privacy case and RTI activist.

Comment:

Ram Krishnaswamy Australia.


Samsung and iPhones have sophisticated Fingerprint recognition instead of a Password. 4 out of 5 times my thumb print authentication fails and I have to fall back on a secret pattern recognition to open my phone. This being the case one can imagine the plight of the poor in India whose fingerprints were captured using not the best scanners and there were a few lakh of them nation wide. At the end of the day it is always the poor and needy who end up suffering whilst the Billionaire who forcibly converted every Indian into a number and Bar code is thumping his chest and telling the world Bank and the world how much money the country has saved (at the expense of the poor I presume). Sad state of affairs. Never believed that PM Modi who vehemently objected to Aadhaar before the elections fell for this scheme lock stock barrel. Pity.

12170 - Retired HC judge says court shouldn't interfere in Hadiya's right to privacy - TNN



TNN | Oct 30, 2017, 08:27 IST

CHENNAI: The Kerala high court's order annulling the marriage of Hadiya to Shafin Jahan amounts to interference on the part of the court in her right to privacy, said retired Madras high court judge D Hariparanthaman. He and activists V Geetha and Usha Ramanathan, was speaking on the Hadiya case ahead of a seminar session to discuss the implications of the Supreme Court's verdict on privacy being a fundamental right. The Hadiya case will be heard by the apex court on Monday . 

"Annulling the marriage when hearing a habeas corpus writ plea is unheard of. I think it is for the first time that such an order is passed," he said. 

Usha Ramanathan pointed out that courts need to under stand the significance of National Investigating Agency and the likes, before bringing them in on cases. "It is terrifying that the NIA was brought in to investigate (Hadiya case). It was not a responsible (move)," Ramanathan said of the SC's order. To a question, wheather they thought the judiciary has allowed itself to be a tool in the hands of communal forces in the light of its observations on the case, Geetha said that the probe was being given communal colours by external forces.

"Judiciary has not and is not adding communal colours to the investigation. The communal angle is only furthered by the majoritarian polity in this country," Geetha observed.

"We are saying the (Kerala HC) judgment was wrong based on the fact that Hadiya was a major. She is not under-18 or mentally unstable," said Hariparanthaman.

During the event, a city based activist group Vettiver Collective also debuted a video compilation featuring city rapper Sofia Ashraf, Carnatic singer T M Krishna, writer-novelist Perumal Murugan and Punebased folk singer and Dalit activist Shital Sathe. Titled `Privacy Matters', the video discuss the importance of privacy and what it means to them when they realise it is being violated.

For Ashraf, losing her privacy means losing dignity . "I will not lose my dignity by being ID'ed," she says in the video. 

12169 - Aadhaar Articles dated 30th Oct 2017



The Hindu
The Supreme Court on Monday pulled up the State of West Bengal for directly approaching the apex court against the Centre's move to make Aadhaar ...



Economic Times
NEW DELHI: The government is accelerating the drive to demographically authenticate bank accounts with Aadhaar even as the Supreme Court ...






The Hindu
Will Aadhaar become a tool to help citizens, or will it ultimately be a mechanism to invade our privacy? Former UPA Minister Jairam Ramesh termed ...






The Hindu
The enumeration of children below the age of five, numbering 45 lakhs in the State, for Aadhaar is likely to be completed in a few months, official ...






Outlook India
In the wake of the recent incidents of leakage of Aadhaar information, results of a survey revealed that majority of the respondents demanded that a ...



Indiatimes.com
In another Aadhaar related incident, a 10-year-old boy allegedly gets beaten up by his teacher in Chinchwad in Pune for not bringing his UID number.






Hindustan Times
The Supreme Court will hear petitions related to Aadhaar, Kerala's love jihad case, Artcile 35(A), a law that guarantees special privileges to J-K, ...



Hindu Business Line
The government has said that by December 1, people will be clear on what options they have for linking their Aadhaar with mobile numbers, and even ...






Times of India
KOLKATA: The Bengal government may have challenged Aadhaar linkage for social welfare schemes in Supreme Court, but back home, the Kolkata ...






The Tribune
AHEAD of the hearing in the Supreme Court today (October 30) amidst the push for biometric gnawing concerns about privacy, the issue of Aadhaar's ...








Times Now
Merta, Rajasthan: In a first, a woman's Aadhaar card came to the rescue of the police to ascertain her identity in Rajasthan's Nagaur district. The police ...





Indiatimes.com
Recently, several cases have surfaced where the details of Aadhaar and other documents which are supposed to remain discreet, have been ...

12168 - Aadhaar Articles dated 29th Oct 2017



The Hindu
The UIDAI will soon evolve a process for authorised employees of banks, post offices and the government to biometrically sign off Aadhaar enrolment ...





Scroll.in
The immediate effect of the judgement, it was believed, would be on Aadhaar, the 12-digit biometric unique identification number that the government ...





The Indian Express
Hyderabad Police on Friday arrested three people for stealing Aadhaar data of 300 people and using it to steal senior citizens' pension to the tune of ...





Times of India
Such communities are also allowed to obtain PAN cards, Aadhaar numbers and driving licences, take up self-employment or do business, and are ...





Outlook India
New Delhi [India], October 29 : In the wake of the recent incidents of leakage of Aadhaar information, results of a survey revealed that majority of the ...





Hindustan Times
Mobile Aadhaar can be used as an identity proof to enter airports, while identification documents will not be required for minors accompanied by ...





The Asian Age
The security of the gargantuan Aadhaar database comes into question. Is a public sector utility capable of keeping our personal information safe?





The New Indian Express
He wanted to know whether the government had any specific recommendation as far as the compliance of Aadhaar Act 2016 is concerned.





Chandigarh Metro (blog)
Linking Aadhaar card with mobile number has become simpler. One can easily link Aadhar card number with his/her mobile card number from home.





Ultra News
BJP leader and libertarian politician Subramanian Swamy said he believes that the design of Aadhaar system exposes core data to 'American ...





The Hindu
The family was removed from the list of PDS beneficiaries as their ration cards were not linked to Aadhaar, government agencies claimed. The death ...





NewsBytes
In an interview with Mirror Now, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy voiced his concern regarding the Aadhaar infrastructure which, according to Swamy, ...





Economic Times
When we were in opposition there was no clarity as to what really Aadhaar was going to achieve. Within the first 10 days of government, a detailed ...





Moneycontrol.com
14:52 Mobile Aadhaar can be used as an identity proof to enter airports, while identification documents will not be required for minors accompanied by ...





The Telegraph
Most of the beneficiaries of public distribution system at this panchayat have got their ration cards linked to Aadhaar, which is the state's thrust for ...





Deccan Chronicle
A source said, “The ration card-Aadhaar-bank account linkage will be crucial. Though 100 per cent ration card-Aadhaar linkage has been achieved, ...





Brainbuxa
The rumor regarding the ineligibility of candidates for not having aadhaar cards was circulated on WhatsApp and since then anxious parents and ...





The New Indian Express
We discovered errors in the Aadhaar numbers right in the beginning. Almost one lakh accounts had one single Aadhaar number. Then we realised ...





Zee News
Modi asked people to link RuPay card, mobiles and bank services with Aadhaar. Modi said, “I urge people to use Bhim App and embrace cashless ...





Economic Times
Nilekani, the architect of Aadhaar, had taken over the reins of the embattled Infosys in August this year following months of acrimony between the ...





Deccan Chronicle
Aadhaar is a number given to people of India and it is a unique identity number. Aadhaar may be used to identify the person concerned. How it is ...

12167 - Aadhaar Articles dated 28th Oct 2017



Economic Times
The Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government has moved the Supreme Court against the Centre's Aadhaar scheme, which makes it mandatory ...



NDTV
New Delhi: Mobile Aadhaar can be used as an identity proof to enter ... which include passport, voter ID card, Aadhaar or m-Aadhaar, PAN card and ...






Moneycontrol.com
The UIDAI today ruled out any "goof up" during Aadhaar enrolment process at a village in Haridwar where a number of people reportedly share ...



The Indian Express
In a move to simplify the process of linking mobile phone number with Aadhaar, the government announced three measures which will let people ...






Live Law
The production of an Aadhaar card will not be condition for obtaining any benefits otherwise due to a citizen”. This order is the law of the land and ...






The Wire
The West Bengal chief minister is protesting the Centre's move to make Aadhaar mandatory for availing the benefits of various social welfare schemes.



The Indian Express
But then, gradually, the “voluntary” basis of Aadhaar goes out the window. First, it is mandatory to receive benefits. Then, to pay taxes (what's the PAN ...






ScoopWhoop
She has now taken the centre to the Supreme Court, challenging rules that make Aadhaar mandatory for all financial transactions. The apex court will ...






Firstpost
In the present day, the Orwellian nightmare threatens to become worrisome, as the government plans to connect your Aadhaar card to your mobile ...






Firstpost
Mumbai: Maharashtra agriculture minister Pandurang Fundkar on Friday announced that farmers will have to disclose their Aadhaar number while ...






The Tribune
Preliminary inquiries revealed that in some cases as many as 100 bank accounts were linked to the same Aadhaar number. Many belonged to small ...






The Indian Express
The board has made it clear that yes, while filling the forms, the students should fill their Aadhaar card details. If the students have only applied for it, ...






HERE. NOW
Bhubaneswar: Following instructions from the Centre, the state government has asked all district collectors to complete Aadhaar enrolment of all ...






Deccan Chronicle
Santoshi died because the State, in its exhibitionary zeal to display efficiency, had decided that only those ration-card holders who had an Aadhaar ...






Firstpost
Mumbai: With the first leg of the farm loan waiver totally going haywire due to the failure of the banks to key in correct Aadhaar numbers against the ...






The New Indian Express
HYDERABAD: In a classic case of identity theft, a possibility repeatedly denied by the Centre and UIDAI officials, Aadhaar details of nearly 300 people ...






Storypick
How may times in a day are you nabbed over SMS, calls and emails, asking you to link your Aadhaar card to something? I am guessing, several times.

12166 - Aadhaar Articles dated 27th Oct 2017



The Hindu
Former Kerala Minister Binoy Viswam on Thursday moved the Supreme Court challenging a provision in the Income Tax law that mandates the linking ...
Aadhaar plea - The Telegraph



The Hindu
The Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency has authorised the use of Aadhaar number for establishing the identity of individuals for various government ...






Economic Times
She will not link her phone to Aadhaar. Come what may (read: termination of phone connection). And just to ensure that the 'J' word comes through, ...



Times of India
NEW DELHI: The government is looking to provide non-Aadhaar based verification for mobile phones only for certain categories, such as NRIs and ...



Times of India
DEHRADUN: In his Aadhaar card, Mohammad Khan's date of birth is January 1. Next door, Alafdin also shows his official birthday as January 1. In fact ...






The News Minute
Many people gathered in Bengaluru under The Right to Food campaign, describing how ration was denied to them for not linking Aadhaar.



NDTV
New Delhi: Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of Bengal, has taken the centre to the Supreme Court, challenging rules that make Aadhaar ...



The Telegraph
Guwahati: The Assam government is planning to open at least 8,600 centres for Aadhaar enrolment from December since the state is at the bottom ...






The Telegraph
Calcutta: CBSE schools are recording the Aadhaar numbers of students during online registration for classes IX to XII, in compliance with a circular ...



Times of India
PUNE: With confusion prevailing over linking of Aadhaar cards with various essential services, the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited ...






Moneycontrol.com
The bank accounts of over 60,000 farmers were linked to wrong Aadhaar numbers which resulted in a delay in the release of funds to farmers in phase ...



Economic and Political Weekly
Aadhaar Is Proving Lethal · Vol. 52, Issue No. 42-43, 28 Oct, 2017 · Letters. Subscribers please login to access full text of the article.






The Telegraph
Bhubaneswar: The state government has warned action against school authorities that fail to enrol the Aadhar details of their students. A government ...






The Tribune
Even though instructions have been issued by the Education Department to schools to get the Aadhaar cards of all students made and to upload the ...






Times of India
Tawde said, "Even if mentioning Aadhaar card details in the SSC and HSC forms is made compulsory, it is not that students will not be able to fill the ...






Moneylife
The circular said in the case of an individual one has to furnish his/her Aadhaar details. In the case of a company, "managers, officers or employees ...






Bangalore Mirror
Shihab, a native of Palakkad in Kerala was charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the AAdhaar Act by the Banashankar police.