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, March 20, 2018

13004 - Aadhaar Articles Dated 20th March 2018



DailyO
On a recent trip to Pune, a friend I was staying with had not yet received his Aadhaar card. So when he set out to get a new mobile phone connection, he asked if he could have one in my name, with my Aadhaar number. However, at the store we visited to buy the SIM card, when I had to use the ...

Less equal than others - Business Line



MediaNama.com
Neither the reply nor the circular document it refers to include details of the new ID system to be implemented or names departments and usages where the Virtual ID can be used and where Aadhaar will still be required. Additionally, the document mentions the availability of a new API for using the ...






Business Today
A French hacker has come up with a revelation that the Aadhaar documents can be accessed online by using a Google 'dork' search. This comes four days after the same hacker, Robert Baptiste, who goes by the name Elliot Alderson on Twitter, posted a video on how one can bypass the password ...






Times of India
But, none would be accessible to students unless they register on NAD using their Aadhaar number. Recently, while extending the deadline for Aadhaar seeding indefinitely, the Supreme Court had ruled that the unique identity number was not necessary except for availing government subsidies.






NDTV Profit
With the mandatory linking of Aadhaar card number now postponed indefinitely, you now have more time to update or correct the details fed into the Aadhaar database. Aadhaar card number, or Unique Identity Number (UID) is a 12-digit personal identification number issued by the Unique Identification ...







BloombergQuint
It's not mandatory to link Aadhaar to existing insurance policies in line with the Supreme Court order that extended the deadline indefinitely till a final verdict on petitions challenging the validity of the world's largest biometric database. New insurance policies still have to be linked with Aadhaar at the time ...






News18
The issue before the top court pertained to a quandary before the transgenders, who want to link their Aadhaar with PAN cards in accordance with the ... While an Aadhaar card can identify a person as a transgender, his or her existing PAN card would reflect the gender assigned to the person at birth ...




Deccan Herald
The state government has linked Aadhaar with RTE benefit to eliminate duplication and has made it mandatory for admission under RTE Act quota. As Aadhaar services are not available at post offices, banks, and Nada Kutcheris, parents are queuing up before private centres to get corrections and ...






The New Indian Express
VIJAYAWADA: The Aadhaar details of many people, especially women, from Andhra Pradesh are available in the public domain, increasing fears of their misuse. The details of woman beneficiaries in the Bangaru Talli scheme, which was launched in 2013 in the united AP, has been hacked and the ...






Telegraph India
Shillong: The Meghalaya People's Committee on Aadhaar has alleged that some government officials are coercing people for Aadhaar enrolment. "We get several phone calls from places where some officers allegedly threaten people to get themselves enrolled for Aadhaar, failing which they will be ...






Hindustan Times
But he's primarily known for finding flaws in India's massive biometric-based programme, Aadhaar. Earlier this year, Alderson claimed to have found a massive loophole in the Aadhaar's mobile application on Google that allowed anyone with basic coding knowledge to gain users' data. The alleged flaw ...






The Indian Express
The Centre on Monday assured the Supreme Court that it will look into the problems faced by a transgender person in linking Aadhaar number with PAN card. The Centre's counsel told a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra that there was no legal impediment to this and it ...

Third gender tax plea - Telegraph India



Clipper28 (satire) (press release) (blog)
The Aadhaar card case in the Supreme court on Tuesday, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) which issues the 12-digit UID number said that the Aadhaar card project has saved Rs. 57,000 crore of the country. The UIDAI made this comment on its official Twitter handle @UIDAI. Last week ...






ZDNet
The Oxford English Dictionary's 2017 Hindi Word of the Year was "Aadhaar," which in Sanskrit means foundation. News of the linguists' pronouncement, covered in the Times of India, did not even have to mention why, other than to say it's a word that has attracted a great deal of attention. Its tens of ...








The Quint
In yet another revelation that raises worries about the privacy of your Aadhaar data, it has been found that a simple Google search will lead you to the Aadhaar details of several individuals. These details, including their name, address, Aadhaar number, date of birth and photograph, have been made ...






The Hindu
Meanwhile, the Mumbai unit of the ATS on Sunday night arrested a 36-year-old man in Ulhasnagar for allegedly helping the five illegal immigrants, who were arrested in Raigad on March 13. The accused is alleged to have helped them procure PAN and Aadhaar cards without valid documents, and is ...






All India Roundup
Hyderabad: In a first initiation, all school students from the state of Telangana can get themselves enrolled at school itself. And moreover there will be no charges or any cost. With this, getting Aadhaar cards becomes easy for students. The Unique Identification Authority of India gave its nod to the ...






The Siasat Daily
Ulhasnagar: The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has arrested a man for allegedly helping illegal Bangladeshi migrants to procure Aadhaar and PAN cards without proper documents. The accused, 36, was arrested on March 18 by Navi Mumbai unit of ATS from Ulhasnagar in Thane district ...






Times of India
After filing Income Tax return, taxpayers also need to verify it and this can also be done online. The tax department will commence processing the return request only when it is verified. Taxpayers can verify their returns via netbanking which is considered as the quick way to verify it. An individual can ...






Livemint
For example, the government has recently mandated that all insurance policies be linked to the Aadhaar. Claims will not be paid if this linkage is incomplete. This one-sided diktat has created stress because the process will not get done on time. In many cases, customers would not have submitted ...






Business Standard
On the Pahal scheme, which gives subsidy to LPG consumers (with or without Aadhaar numbers) through bank accounts, the Delhi government said, "There were around 48.15 lakh LPG consumers, out of which 38.83 lakh were beneficiaries of Pahal scheme and 76.10 per cent of the consumers had ...






India Today
We have sanctioned Rs 200 crore for developing infrastructural facilities in government engineering colleges," he said. He said to prevent the use of the name of a teacher in multiple colleges, the government was liking teachers database with Aadhaar card while scholarships were also being linked with ...






Inc42 Media
After news of one of Facebook's biggest data breaches perpetrated by British big data analytics startup Cambridge Analytica surfaced earlier this week, privacy advocates in India are now demanding stronger data privacy laws in the country. This comes at a time when the Indian government's Aadhaar ...