The UIN - Unique Identification Number World UIN homepage ^ | Christine Hobson
Posted on 15 November 2009 7:43:46 AM by Sharondownunderinnz
The UIN - Unique Identification Number
Finally, after a year of headlines we are beginning to see the clear picture at hand when it comes to Nandan Nilekani's vision for issuing every Indian a UIN, Unique Identification Number. At first glance it would have been thought is was nothing much, possibly a variation on the US's Social Security Number. At closer inspection however, you can see many layers that one would not have imagined. Nandan Nilekani co-founded Infosys, one of India's leading information technology companies, back in 1981. After serving as its president and then CEO, he's now joined the Indian government to help lead a massive new IT project: providing every Indian with a unique identity card. to concentrate on his next great endeavor: re-imagining India in the new millennium.
In recent weeks it has been revealed that Mr. Nilekani seeks to monetized the UIN as well as have it directly linked to ones biometrics, which would include all 10 fingerprints. Last week through the National Population Register (NPR) it was announced that the 2011 Census requirements of biometric fingerprints was to help target each person for various programs and schemes and link them directly to a system that would offer “real time population data”. This project also aims to give 1.2 billion citizens biometric identity cards that will have the ability to help millions of poor gain access to many services they otherwise would not be able to. Think about it, “To obtain the pension, the beneficiary has to implant his finger impression on a device with a business correspondent engaged by the bank and only if the impression matches with the one to whom a bio-metric card has been issued, then only the amount is released,” said SBI bank official.
Identification has always been a huge problem for India with many persons never identified from birth. Whole households with no means to identify themselves. This effects them on every level from the simple things like the purchase of a cell phone to the more useful and important services as opening a bank account, seeking employment . In most cases an address cannot be verified either because the poor live in slums or on the streets and have nothing to provide to prove who or where they are from. "This project is pro-poor and inclusive targeted mainly towards the poor. The middle class and the rich have some form of identity. People on the margins are getting lost because of lack of identity," Mr Nilekani said.
Mr. Nilekani's intention is to provide access to all persons state benefits that before only had available to those with means. Money. The whole idea is to include everyone into the System. Meaning everyone. This does not verify ones citizenship, but residency. This number will be issued from cradle to grave with no possibly of duplication. Hence for added measure the inclusion of biometrics. It has been said that India's efforts at giving every citizen an identity number is possibly one of the greatest challenges facing the government. What could this mean? Universal Financial Inclusion in India. Bank access, health insurance for all.
Nilekani is not alone in this venture, in fact he has some pretty impressive partners that seek their piece of the pie. IBM for one, and none other then Bill Gates of Microsoft. In August IBM began dialogue with partners in India to position itself in the project and shortly before Mr. Gates met with Nandan Nilekani to ensure his part in this monumental scheme. "The World Bank has offered to assist the government in re-structuring the Public Distribution System (PDS), the Delhi government is set to soon initiate a pilot project to launch its ‘cash for food’ program in the Capital. This is seen as the first step in overhauling the system." It would seem absolutely nothing should go wrong, with a Dream Team such as this put together.
In India in another three to four years, you will be known not by name, but by a unique identity (UID) number. Will this set a precedent for the rest of the world in the near future? Or have we already seen similar projects in other countries that could strip our identity and we become nothing more then a bit of information assimilated into a system. I know I have my opinion. Hopefully as this information begins to sink in, you will begin to see a bigger picture.
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
