UID Project - Do the Negatives outweigh the Positives ?
by anupamtr
on Sun Jun 06, 2010 7:13 pm
Unique Identification Project – Do the negatives outweigh the positive ?
When The Unique Identification authority of India [UIDAI] was constituted in January, 2009 under the leadership of Nanadan Nilekani, it was hailed by one and all. Paeans were written in newspapers, periodicals and journals. The whole media termed it as path-breaking, the political analysts called it a delayed but a much needed step, the social activists saw it as a tool to undo the social wrongs by identifying the needy and for people at large, finally there was something that could make them counted in this vast country of ours.
But a little over a year down the line, the rumblings have started against the UID from different quarters. The questions are being asked about the utility or rather the futility of the whole exercise. The analysts are questioning the real utility of UID in the face of plethora of identities that an average Indian is grappled with, be it in the form of Passport, Election card, Driving license, Ration card, PAN card and what not. UID may replace some of these but not all.
The sceptics are questioning the sanctity of UID in a country where almost every I/D can be procured easily by anybody, anywhere. All you need is just about 500/- rupee and you can get a ration card, an election card or driving license evenif you hail from Bangadesh or Turkey ! More so, there are lakhs of unscrupulous businessmen who possess more than 2 to3 PAN cards or even Passports, in effect having more than one identity. What is the guarantee that UID will not meet the same fate and we will not have people with 2-3 ‘Unique’ identities ? The incorporation of Biometrics may be a solution but what about the clerk who would happily copy your finger prints or replace them with somebody else’s for a few hundred bucks ?
Then more damning is the concern that UID will compromise our security. The reference being the legitimization of infiltrators from Bangladesh, Pakistan and even of the terrorists in absence of a foolproof system. Of late, research projects have been accepted by some Universities on the topics of UID and it’s effect on Internal security.
More recently, an activist of the Citizens Forum for Civil Liberties, one Mr Gopal Krishna has made a case where he considers the Unique Identification Number project a gross violation of fundamental human rights.
Says he, “In our country, it is rarely noticed as to when the concept of massively organised information quietly emerged to become a means of social control, a weapon of war, and for the victimisation of ethnic groups. Nandan Nilekani, co-founder and former chief executive of Infosys Technologies Ltd, India's second largest software company, has misled the Government of India into making it believe that in a country with 48 percent illiteracy, a 12-digit card would be helpful in reaching the poorest of the poor. “
Mr Gopal Krishna even goes a step further and equates the Unique Identification [termed as ‘Aadhar’] project with the census of jews taken in Nazi Germany wherein The International Business Machines [today’s IBM] colluded with Adolf Hitler's government to identify Jews for targetted asset confiscation, ghettoisation, deportation, and ultimately extermination to help Hitler with its punch card and card sorting system -- a precursor to the computer.
Says he, “The UID and National Population Register is all set to do what IBM did in Germany, Romania and in Europe and elsewhere through 'solutions' ranging from the census to providing list of names of Jews to Nazis. The UID has nothing to do with citizenship, it is merely an identification exercise." Further he adds, “The UID project is a blatant case of infringement of civil liberties. The government's identification exercise follows the path of the Information Technology Act 2000 that was enacted in the absence of no data or privacy protection legislation.”
To lend credence to his arguments, he cites the example of Britain where the new coalition government has decided to repeal its controversial National Identity Cards Act 2006, apparently to safeguard citizens' privacy and act against intrusions.
The scrapping of the UK's ID project is planned to be done in the next 3-4 months. Besides repealing the Identity Cards Act 2006 and outlawing the finger-printing of children at school, the UK government has decided to stop its National Identity Register and the next generation of biometric passports, the Contact Point database and end storage of Internet and email records.
But unlike the UK, the Government of India through a Press Information Bureau release dated May 18 has stated that 'the Cabinet Committee on Unique Identification Authority of India related issues today approved in principle the adoption of the approach outlined by UIDAI for collection of demographic and biometric attributes of residents (face, all ten fingerprints and iris) for the UID project. It was also decided to include data of the iris for children in the age group of 5 to 15 years. The same standards and processes would be adhered to by the Registrar General of India for the NPR exercise and all other registrars in the UID system.
Citing the UK example, Mr Gopal Krishna argues, “How is it that two democracies deal with the issue of ungovernable breaches of privacy differently? While the UK government is proactive in protecting the privacy of its citizens, the Government of India is ridiculing the very idea of privacy and civil liberties. It is highly disturbing that at almost the same time, India's minority coalition government plans to do just the contrary with astounding disregard to citizens' privacy by stamping them with an UID number based on their biometric data. Such a 'surveillance' effort through the world's largest citizen identity project for 'creating a Unique Identity Number for every resident in India' undermines our democracy beyond repair.
Like in the UK, in India too there is a need for a similar measure to stop the efforts underway through the UIDAI to issue a UID number to every resident in the country. Issuing unique identity numbers to the 1.2 billion residents of India based on biometric data is fraught with hitherto unimaginable dangers of human rights violations. “
But such damning allegations and accusations aside, can we really ignore the positives the UID project has ? In fact, we should look at the UID in a similar context to US's social security number or UK's National Insurance number. You can get it if you need it. In India’s case, one of the biggest issues in governance is leakage in delivery. This ID may enable eGovernance in India which will fix the leakage to considerable levels.
It’s time that we looked at the entire project objectively. We must weigh the pros and cons of this ambitious prohect. BJP, as a responsible opposition, should form a committee to analyse all it’s aspects and address such concerns and apprehensions of impending danger, if any.
Activist like Gopal Krishna may have some good arguments but a close study of the facts may reveal another side of the coin too. For example, the UK I/D project worth GBP 5 Billion is being scrapped mainly because of the UK budget deficit (GBP 178 Billion) and not just for the violation of human rights. Scrapping the deal was published in the manifesto of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats to indicate their way of managing the finances, not otherwise.
anupamtr
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UID Project - Do the Negatives outweigh the Positives ?
by NPradhan on Thu Jun 10, 2010 2:56 pm
If it can help in reducing corruption and/or bribery and outflow of National wealth to tax havens, then the UID project must be welcomed as it is or with suitable modifications.
We do not need to follow any country, any expert other than the knowledge available in our ancient texts written in Sanskrit. For people like Mr. Gopal Krishna: how many times do any individual violet his own moral duties/rights? Once man stop violeting his own moral duties/rights of public or private nature; he shall automatically discover that violetion is done by self not by others or the government.
Indians are cheated day in and day out by every other fellow and the noble people are wasting all their mental power to tolerate the cheating to remain cool is the truth about violations of all types! If the negatives shall outweigh the positives, then there is something negative in the objective of the project itself.
NPradhan
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
