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

Friday, October 20, 2017

12156 - Aadhaar Articles Dated 19th October 2017



The Hindu
Aadhaar-issuing body UIDAI on October 18 said the family of the 11-year-old Jharkhand girl who allegedly died of starvation had Aadhaar and ...



Economic Times
NEW DELHI: The government's Aadhaar-driven agenda is firing up demand for technology products and software services — giving a fillip to a market ...






Economic Times
NEW DELHI: Retirement fund manager EPFO has launched an online facility for its subscribers to link their 12-digit unique Aadhaar number with their ...



Re:locate Magazine
A unique idetifiacation number (Aadhaar) has been introduced in India is now compulsory for all Indian residents. Long term expatriates will be ...






Scroll.in
In repeated orders since 2013, the Supreme Court has emphasised that the possession of an Aadhaar number cannot be made mandatory to avail of ...






NewsClick
Speaking in Washington on 12 October, Nandan Nilekani , the man behind Aadhar, said that “It has also saved the government about $9 billion in ...






India Today
If you fail to link your Aadhaar card with your mobile operator or with your Bank you may not get uninterrupted service till the time you link and update it ...






Firstpost
A total 2.41 lakh applications are still pending due to non-availability of Aadhaar," state Cooperation Minister Subhash Deshmukh told Firstpost.






The New Indian Express
The response indicates that the decision on mandatory linking of bank accounts with Aadhaar comes from the central government alone and not the ...






NewsBytes
The EPFO has launched an online facility to let subscribers link their Universal Account Number (UAN) for Provident Fund (PF) to their Aadhaar. "This ...






Gizmodo India
Employers have started using Aadhaar to verify their potential employees. The re-verification of Aadhaar has made identity verification much simpler ...






COUNTERVIEW
A dangerous trend appears to have overtaken India. In a survey carried out by one of the world's most well-known US-based research institutes, Pew, ...






Gadgets Now (blog)
Launched by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the app lets users carry their Aadhaar identity on their smartphones. According to UIDAI ...






The Quint
Did three brothers from a Dalit family die of starvation in Karnataka's Gokarna because their local PDS shop refused to give them grain for not linking ...






Outlook India
An 11-year-old girl allegedly died of starvation in Jharkhand's Simdega District recently, as her family's ration card was not linked to the Aadhaar, the ...



Scroll.in
Activists say Jharkhand minister's statement on Aadhaar use in ration shops misleading: Santoshi Kumari died on September 28 after her family was ...






NewsClick
Apart from this, data pertaining to the number of Aadhaar-seeded accounts was removed, while data on the number of accounts opened under the ...






KanglaOnline
Emphasising on the need to have Aadhaar number for each and every citizen of the area, he said Aadhaar has been made mandatory to avail every ...






The Hindu
Ram Rajya means no poverty, grief or discrimination, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister says as he asks critics not to see political designs behind his ...






The Federalist
Aadhaar began as a voluntary program designed to reduce fraud in government benefits programs, but according to a BBC report, “it has become ...






Biometric Update
In addition to its work in Latin America, the company is a major contributor to the world's largest biometrics-based ID program Aadhaar and has ...






Hindustan Times
Without Aadhaar and PAN card, a trader cannot buy products. Procuring items from branded companies requires registration with them for billing.






Outlook India
"If a picture is clicked to be used in Aadhaar Card, passport and other useful documentations it ok but for useless things such as to upload in social ...






Huffington Post India
... had been removed from the state's public distribution system because their Aadhaar cards were not linked to the new list issued by the government.