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

Monday, February 19, 2018

12829 - Aadhaar Related Articles Dated 18th February 2018



The Hindu
A city school student, aspiring to be a doctor, is now afraid that her application for NEET would be rejected as her name in the Aadhaar card is different from the one in the school records. The student has two initials as per her school record, whereas her Aadhaar card carries only her father's name after ...






News18
Scam Could Have Been Averted had Nirav Modi's Aadhaar Been Linked With Bank Account: Sena; Star Alliance in the Works? Kamal Haasan Calls on Rajinikanth Ahead of Political Debut; Will Make PNB Scam a Poll Issue, PM Modi Will Have to Answer on Nirav Modi: Siddaramaiah; After Constitution ...





The Hindu
More former militants are contesting the February 27 Meghalaya Assembly polls than in 2013. The primary reason why one of them has chosen the ballot over the bullet is to add power to the fight against Aadhaar, the biometric scheme. Aadhaar has not been implemented yet in Meghalaya along with ...






Outlook India
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has refused to divulge details on the money it spent on branding and advertising Aadhaar since its inception in 2009. After an RTI was filed by economist Reetika Khera in November last year seeking details on expenses incurred on advertising and ...





The Hindu
Aadhaar has caused a great deal of resentment among the tribal people of Meghalaya. We do not want to be in a regulated system, as we are Scheduled Tribes and residents of a Sixth Schedule area where such impositions are not applicable,” Bernard N. Marak, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) ...






Zee News
New Delhi: If you have lost your Aadhaar number, don't panic as you can get it back using your mobile and the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) website. Due to increasing usage of Aadhaar, losing or misplacing the crucial card can be a problem. If you have misplaced your Aadhaar card or ...






Financial Express
Gurudayal Dilbagrai Trikha, who is a resident of Nashik's Gandhi Nagar locality had been struggling for a long time to get his Aadhaar process completed but was turned down by several registration centres due to their difficulty in getting his fingerprints. The Aadhaar registration process required him to ...






The Arunachal Times
Aizawl, Feb 17 (PTI) Over 94 per cent people in Mizoram have Aadhaar cards, a sizable increase since late last year, a state government official today said. “As on September 23 last year, the percentage of the state's population with Aadhaar card was 79.88 which jumped to 94.15 per cent on February ...






NorthEast Today
Over 94 per cent people in Mizoram have Aadhaar cards, a sizable increase since late last year, a state government official on Saturday said. “As on September 23 last year, the percentage of the state's population with Aadhaar card was 79.88 which jumped to 94.15 per cent on February 10, 2018,” the ...






India Legal
Even as a Supreme Court constitution bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A K Sikri, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan hears crucial matters on Aadhaar—its linkages and privacy and security issues—common people continue to suffer. If they fail to either present their ...








BGR India
Facebook was recently spotted testing Aadhaar integration for new users registering via mobile in India. The social media giant said it was an attempt to encourage new users to use the name as it appears on Aadhaar ID and won't be made mandatory. It also confirmed that the screen was shown to very ...






Daily News & Analysis
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Digital India wave is now being misused to dupe residents off their digital details. Cyber-criminals are now calling city-based residents, luring them towards making linkage of Aadhaar easier or upgrading the network, but are instead gaining control over their SIM cards.






The Telegraph
The station house officer of Sadar police station, Mohammad Sujauddin, said no suicide note had been recovered from the room. The identity of the deceased, stated to be residents of Rampura Mohanpur in Bengal's West Medinipur district, was ascertained with the help of their Aadhaar cards.






THE WEEK
No sooner did the PM mention a 1998 statement of home minister L.K. Advani that revealed the origin of the idea of 'Aadhaar', than the members heard a crazy, demented laughter. It took everyone by surprise, and led the chairman of the house to intervene. However, in an unusual display of quick wit, ...






The Arunachal Times
Dhawan also directed the DSO (stat) to arrange a mobile team for generating Aadhaar cards and enrolling beneficiaries at the venues. He informed that four camps will be organised on 19, 20, 24 and 28 February at the Donyi Polo Mission School for the Hearing and Visually Impaired in Chimpu, IG Park ...






NewsX
It sarcastically added that had his bank account been linked with Aadhaar card, the fraud could have been avoided. It stressed that the tall claims of BJP to deliver a corruption-free governance had been tattered to pieces as the party could not fulfil its promises and many fraudsters were let off. It said that ...






Social Barrel (blog)
WhatsApp started testing its service last week, and users do not require a log-in session and Aadhaar-based payments. The Paytm boss threatened to go as far as petitioning the National Payments Corporation of India, and possibly the highest regulatory authorities to address the issue. Truth be told, the ...






News World India
Bihar Board examinations have always been a matter of concern for authorities. Unsurprisingly, another cheating case was brought to the Bihar School Examination Board's attention on Saturday, following which nearly 1,000 students were expelled from Class 12 examinations. The Chairman of the ...