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, January 31, 2018

12825 - SC says Aadhaar-based profiling fears serious - Gadgets Now

Amit Anand Choudhary | TNN | Jan 31, 2018, 09.48AM IST

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said apprehension of profiling of citizens on the basis of Aadhaar data is a serious issue that needs examination but the court also cannot neglect benefits to the common man by way of middlemen being eliminated and welfare schemes reaching beneficiaries. 

"Profiling is a serious issue and we have to engage our mind on that aspect. But equally important is the government has been able to provide benefits to communities under the scheme," it said. 

'Aadhaar allows doorstep delivery of services' 

Justice D Y Chandrachud, who is part of a five-judge Constitution bench, during the ongoing hearings related to pleas challenging the Aadhaar scheme, said, "It allows doorstep delivery of services and benefits to people." 

Praising Aadhaar for providing citizen-centric services and social benefits, the Supreme Court said it could not neglect the advantage of the scheme while deciding its constitutional validity. It, however, expressed concern over private entities being allowed to use the Aadhaar platform and misuse data for profiling individuals, an issue on which, it said, the Centre had to satisfy the court. 

As senior advocate Shyam Divan termed Aadhaar as an "architecture of digital dictatorship" under which the state will be able to keep track of movements of its citizens and maintain constant surveillance, the bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A K Sikri, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan demurred, observing that linking it to mass surveillance was "like stretching too much". 

Divan responded that there was a genuine apprehension that Aadhaar data could be aggregated to profile individuals in what will be violative of the right to privacy. He said with the government and private entities making Aadhaar mandatory, profiling will be an easy task after collecting data pertaining to the use of the ID. 


"My point is not that it is tracking but the architecture can be misused in future for tracking and profiling of people. We are living in a democracy and profiling cannot be allowed. The state cannot be allowed to aggregate the data, which could be used to track people. It cannot be allowed even if it is for the purpose of providing them benefits like health and education," he said.



"There is nothing wrong in aggregation for limited purpose for providing subsidies, scholarships and benefits under MGNREGA. Will it not pass the test? But the larger aggregation of data could not be allowed. The government has told us the benefits of Aadhaar in weeding out fake beneficiaries of welfare schemes and it is not possible for the court to ignore it. How to maintain proportionality?" Justice Chandrachud asked. 


"If you have an iphone in your pocket, then your movements could be easily tracked. Your whereabouts could be also known if you use ATM card. We are all living in a highly networked world," the bench said. Justice Chandrachud also referred to the World Bank report appreciating the Aadhaar scheme Divan, however, said that constitutional validity of a scheme could not be judged by World Bank reports and told the bench to consider reports in local journals pointing out how governments had failed in providing relief to farmers who are dying.


The bench said, "This is the positive aspect of Aadhaar. At least we have a citizencentric delivery of services. There are some problems with Aadhaar and the government has to explain on it, including how can it be allowed to be used by private entities. We need to see which are the areas of concern and we will examine it," the bench said.