Smart card back on the agenda
By Michelle Grattan, Canberra
March 27, 2006
A NEW "smart card" with photo ID and a computer chip that people would need for every financial transaction with the Federal Government will be considered by cabinet this week.
The card would take several years to roll out, starting next financial year, in a massive and unprecedented federal operation.
People will have to register and be photographed, as they are for a driver's licence. The photo would be on the card and in the chip, but the card would not contain information such as fingerprints or iris scans.
It is estimated the card would save hundreds of millions of dollars annually by curbing health and welfare fraud.
The smart card would replace the Medicare card and up to 19 other cards, and cover dealings with Centrelink.
Once it was operating, most people would not have to go to Medicare and Centrelink offices for transactions. It would cover, among others, Medicare benefits, family tax benefit payments, all pensions and pensioner concessions, veterans entitlements, pharmaceutical benefits scheme entitlements, unemployment benefits, child-care benefits, Austudy, maternity payments, emergency relief and emergency drought assistance payments.
This is not an ID card but comes close to one. The Government is still considering the pros and cons of an ID card, which is being examined by the Attorney-General's Department.
Although the smart card will not be compulsory, most people will need one because it will be the only way to get money from government. It would apply to people over 18.
The submission has been prepared by Human Services Minister Joe Hockey and has widespread support from departments including Treasury and Finance.
Implementation will cost more than $1 billion over several years. Funding for the card would start in the May budget.
The cabinet submission includes a review from KPMG. The review found that without a photo on the card, there was limited chance of effectively cracking down on fraud and it would not be worth the cost.
The smart card, which Government sources say will act like a "safety deposit box" for a person's identity, would have "voluntary fields" enabling people to register information including blood type, whether they want to be an organ donor, allergies and emergency contacts. It would not contain detailed health records.
A smart card system would have meant people hit by cyclone Larry would have been able to obtain government services faster, and removed the need to ferry huge amounts of cash into the region
As part of the roll-out, "readers" for the card will have to be installed in all doctors' surgeries, chemists and ambulances. At present there are 11.5 million Medicare cards and half a million go missing every year.
After John Howard and the premiers discussed the smart card at the Council of Australian Governments meeting last year, Mr Hockey has also been working with the states, which are co-ordinating a roll-out of a smart driver's licence, a project led by the Beattie Government.
The smart card system, which is used throughout Europe, Singapore, Hong Kong and in many American states, will make identity fraud more difficult.
If the Government decided to introduce an ID card, the smart card could become a basis, but it would need an expansion.
In the 1980s the Hawke government proposed an Australia Card to attack fraud, and it formed the basis of the 1987 double dissolution. It encountered strong opposition and later was aborted after a legal problem was found. The Government believes there would be less resistance now, given the widespread use of photo ID on driver's licences, work passes, and even for gym membership.
Democrat Natasha Stott Despoja has previously said the smart card "may be more dangerous than the one we debated in the 1980s". But Mr Hockey has said the scheme is about privacy protection.
The Labor Party federally has supported a Medicare smart card, which would have a microchip that stored information, replacing the present magnetic stripe.
Why this Blog ? News articles in the Wide World of Web, quite often disappear with time, when they are relocated as archives with a different url. Archives in this blog serve as a library for those who are interested in doing Research on Aadhaar Related Topics. Articles are published with details of original publication date and the url.
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
