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

Sunday, January 2, 2011

991 - The great Indian journey to unique identity-Skyscraper city

Aadhar has the potential to change the life of every Indian

CMN Correspondent
Friday, December 31, 2010

BANGALORE, INDIA: Year 2010 will be remembered for many good as well as bad things in all walks of life. While the scams and controversies made we Indians bit perturbed as to how our money is misused by some vested interests, there is one good news too. Yes, it is about the unique identity that every Indian will have very soon, with the nationwide launch of the UID number.

Aadhar, as christened by the UIDAI, headed by Nandan Nilekani, former CEO and managing director of the Infosys, is going to be the 12-digit identity for every citizen of the country, irrespective of the age, job, location etc...

After a person is allotted a UID number, his/her identity linked to biometrics would be established to uniquely identify the person. The UID number would authenticate the identity claim of a person and would have wide-ranging applications during the person's lifetime. And it would benefit everyone from students to farmers to corporate executives.

The UID will not just help the government track down individuals but will make life far easier for citizens as they will not have to submit so many documents each time they want to avail a new service – private or government.

Since India is a country where food distribution is a major concern, UID can be helpful in bringing transparency in public distribution system, too, and make sure the benefits of government schemes are reaching the people who deserve it.

Also, in the long run, the number will be adequate to open a bank account or conduct any other financial transaction and if the UID cards are made available it can even replace bank cards, thus making one single number changing our life once and for all.

UID took off its first step in October in Maharashtra, in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. At the same time, it was launched at Mysore and Tumkur in Karnataka too.

Since the team for UID was formed, around early 2010, a lot of buzz about the projects had started coming in. It had generated a lot of interest among the corporates and IT companies.

So far around 16 contracts have been awarded. The contract for implementation of Biometric Solution for UIDAI was bagged by three companies namely Satyam Computer Services Ltd. (Mahindra Satyam), L1 Identity Solutions Operating Company, Accenture Services Pvt. Ltd. Advertising Agency for designing Creative Content went to Percept H. Pvt. Ltd. (Media).

Bharti Airtel is given the responsibility of setting up hiring and data center space and facilities at Bangalore, while Intelenet Global Services would be setting up and operating contact centers.

The re-design, development, maintenance and support of UIDAI Web Portal contract went in the hands of Tata Consultancy Services. It also received the contract for purchase of biometric devices. Apart from TCS, HCL Infosystems, 4G Identity Solution, e-Smart Systems, Base Systems were also winners of the similar bid.
National Informatics Center Services is responsible for the purchase of storage systems and the blade servers and hardware for data center.

As we already know, MindTree bagged the contract for application software development, maintenance and support agency, while Ernst & Young would look at the consultancy Services to UIDAI for the setting up of central ID data repository (CIDR) and selection of managed service provider (MSP).

Coming new year might see the complete roll-out of UID in a few states like Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, and subsequently the entire country in a few years.

It's a great feeling that every single will soon have a unique identity.
CLICK ON TITLE TO SEE ORIGINAL ARTICLE - Posted by