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, January 12, 2011

1030 - An Open Letter to the Finance Committee - CIS

by Elonnai Hickok in Privacy — Jan 06, 2011 06:45 PM
The UID Bill has been placed to the Finance Committee for review and approval. Through a series of open letters to the Finance Committee, civil society is asking the committee to take into consideration and change certain aspects of the Bill and the project. The below note compares the SCOSTA standard with the Aadhaar biometric standard, and explains why we believe the SCOSTA standard should replace the Aadhaar biometric standard for the authentication process in the UID scheme.

Introduction
This note is intended to demonstrate how the Aadhaar biometric standard is weaker than the SCOSTA standard. Through a comparison of the SCOSTA standard-based smart card and the Aadhaar biometric-based identification number, it will show how the SCOSTA standard is a more secure, structurally sound, and cost effective approach to authentication of identity for India. Though we recognize that Aadhaar biometrics are useful for the de-duplication and identification of individuals, we believe that the SCOSTA standard is more appropriate for the authentication of individuals. Thus, we ask that the Aadhaar biometric based authentication process be replaced with a SCOSTA standard based authentication process.

A background of the two standards
 The SCOSTA standard is used in smart cards and was developed by the National Informatics Centre in India. It is:

1. Compliant with the international standard ISO-7816 for smart cards.

2. Based on asymmetric passwords

The biometric standard authenticates the identity of an individual based on his or her physical fingerprints and iris scans (in the case of the UID). The standard:

1. Verifies if the individual exists within a known population by comparing the biometric data to those of other individuals stored in a secured centralized database.

2. Based on symmetric passwords

 A comparison of the two standards
Standard
A- SCOSTA  -  MNIC smart card
B -Aadhaar Biometric  - UID number
Architecture
A- Decentralized -SCOSTA standards require asymmetric passwords, and thus can be structured in a decentralized manner
B- Centralized-Aadhaar biometric standards require symmetric passwords, and thus must be structured in a centralized manner
Standards for Technology
A- Open standard-Creates security through transparency
B- Closed standard - Creates security though obscurity
Points of failure
A- Multiple points of failure-The SCOSTA standard has multiple points of failure, because of decentralized structure, thus if one data base is compromised all data is not lost.
B- Single point of failure - The Aadhaar Biometric standard has one single point of failure, because of centralized structure, thus if the data base is compromised all data is lost
Impact on local industry
A- Encourages- Open standards allow local industry to compete in manufacturing technology
B - Discourages- Closed standards allow foreign players to monopolize the manufacturing of technology
Cost analysis
A- Cost effective - Increased competition keeps prices low
Cost ineffective
B- Decreased competition keeps prices high
Revocation   
A- Revocable-  If the asymmetric passwords are stolen, a new set of passwords can be issued
B- Permanent - If the biometrics of an individual are stolen, they cannot be re-issued
Possibility of fraudulent authentication
A- Lower- A thief must steal your smart card and your secret pin to commit fraud
B- Higher- A thief only needs to collect your fingerprints using a glass tumbler to commit fraud
Viability of Technology    
A- Proven effective for large populations
B - Not proven effective for large populations
 
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