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, May 26, 2010

126 - Checks at cyber cafes to become passé with UID numbers By S. Ronendra Singh

Checks at cyber cafes to become passé with UID numbers
By S Ronendra Singh May 12 2010 , New Delhi
Tags: IT
Cyber cafe customers would soon get a unique identification number (UID) which would be applicable across the country. This would remove the trouble of having to offer an identity proof every time a customer logs in at an internet booth.

Identity proofs are a must given the security safeguards being deployed by cyber cafe owners in the wake of a government mandate to identify each cyber cafe user. There are about 1,80,000 cyber cafes in the country. The UID, an initiative of the cyber cafe association of India (CCAOI), however, is not mandatory and would cost customers a small fee.

“Customers will have to give their contact details and ID proofs such as PAN card, driving licence or voter’s I-card to cafe owners. A picture will also be taken. Then, the customer would get the unique identification, which would enable them to use the systems for browsing the net in future too,” director, CCAOI, Amrita Choudhury told Financial Chronicle.

Every time a user tries to log in with UID details, the details stored in the central server and the log-in credentials would be matched and authenticated, after which the user would be allowed to browse, she said.

“The device for maintaining such details costs around Rs 10,000, but CCOAI with the help of government would give it free to the cyber café owners. Owners pay only a maintenance cost of Rs 100,” Choudhury said. Connect9 and Airlink Wireless are technology partners of the UID solution.

According to Sify Technologies, which has around 1,227 internet cafes across India, the company would ensure all measures for cyber security.

“Sify e-Port is committed to providing internet access across the country and have more than two lakh unique visitors sessions a day. Any measures to increase security by the government are welcome. We’ll do everything to put in place the requisite infrastructure,” a senior Sify official said.

Reliance, which runs cyber cafes on franchisee model under the brand name Reliance Web World, however, declined to comment.

“This shall help café owners to adhere to the government norms for tracking the details of every user. All cyber cafes in India are under the IT Act 2000, which was amended in 2008, and there are guidelines that they have to follow under this Act,” director, department of IT (DIT), Abhishek Singh told Financial Chronicle.

According to CCOAI, of the 1,80,000 cyber cafes in India, each has on an average has about six terminals open seven days a week, 10 hours a day, with around 40 walk-ins per day.