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

Thursday, December 23, 2010

972 - "Is UIDN a tool for holocaust?" - DNA Gopal Krishna's Comments

The Editor
DNA
By Gopal Krishna

Apropos of "Is UIDN a tool for holocaust?" (November 28, 2010, DNA) authored by Nirad Mudur, Associate Editor, DNA Newspaper, it is quite clear that he has not done his homework while attributing benevolent motives to a regressive and malevolent project like UID Number. 


Mudur says, "UIDN is NOT an identity proof." His contention is factually incorrect.

According to the Press Brief for National launch of Unique
Identification Numbers (Aadhaar) issued by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), “The Aadhaar number will ease these difficulties in identification, by providing a nationally valid and verifiable single source of identity proof. The UIDAI will ensure the uniqueness of the Aadhaar numbers through the use of biometric attributes (Finger Prints and Iris) which will be linked to the number”. This release was issued on 29th September 2010 when Unique Identification Numbers (Aadhaar) was first distributed by Dr Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi.

Mudur says, "what is the guaranteed that the already existing 15 identity proofs (including voters’ identity card or ration card) mentioned by Gopal Krishna will not be tapped to identify minorities to launch a holocaust-like pogrom?"

The answer to this question is there in Government of India's Draft Discussion Paper on Privacy Bill which  states, “Data privacy and the need to protect personal information is almost never a concern when data is stored in a decentralized manner. Data that is maintained in
silos is largely useless outside that silo and consequently has a low likelihood of causing any damage."

As to Mudur's blind faith in the US system, he has not checked relevant facts. Draft Discussion paper on Privacy Law reveals, “There is no data protection statute in the country” unlike the U.S. Federal Privacy Statute or the European Directive on Data Protection.

The US passed a Federal law (the REAL ID Act, 2005) requiring the States to allow the Federal Department of Homeland Security to access State databases such as drivers’ licences and motor vehicle registration. Mudur must take note that not a single State has ratified this Act, and 25 States have passed legislations to exclude themselves from its purview.

Not only that a confidential working paper titled “Creating a Unique Identity Number for Every Resident in India” was recently posted on the transparency website Wikileaks. The leaked document admitted, “the UID database will be susceptible to attacks and leaks at various levels”. Profiling on the lines religious, racial or caste identity has led to violence against Asians and Muslims in US and Australia.

Based on his touching faith in government systems, Mudur meekly says that Nazi Germany condition is unlikely, "a situation that may never arise in a widely diverse India, US or Australia." Such faith is hardly a rational explanation for his misplaced inference about UID Number.

I must submit that "propaganda based on suspicion and half-knowledge" has been launched by the beneficiaries of UID Number.

Not surprisingly, UIDAI has also hired a public relations agency with an objective to “Provide consistent flow of information across all mediums to create the right perception of UIDAI and Aadhaar throughout the country”; one such agency has created a stalemate in the Parliament.

One editor of a financial daily too is a great supporter UID Number. We were not surprised to find his name in the Radia Tapes.

UID Number is an attempt to convert a resident into a number, Indian population into a market and then citizens in to subjects. Mudur says, "government’s fault lies in not ensuring a series of open discussions on the project before launching it." Is it an innocent fault or a grave and unpardonable sin?

If all was so well besides this "fault" why was  National
Identification Authority of India Bill introduced in Parliament after the constitution of the UIDAI and appointment of Nandan Nilekani as its Chairman in the rank and status of a Cabinet Minister?

The Bill seeks to provide statutory status to the UIDAI which has been functioning (by awarding contracts to US companies like Accenture and L1 Identities Solution)without backing of law since January 2009 and seeks legitimacy for its previous work.

Gopal Krishna
Member
Citizens Forum for Civil Liberties
New Delhi
CLICK ON TITLE TO SEE ORIGINAL ARTICLE - Posted by
Labels: