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

Monday, January 3, 2011

995 - The idea of who I am: Aadhaar-Unique Identity

31 DEC, 2010, 04.18AM IST, SHELLY SINGH,ET BUREAU 

The idea of the self UIDAI will reach out to 1.2 billion people, almost 10 times of those covered in the US. The government’s unique identitification number may put you in place.

Date: 29 September, 2010.
Place: Tembhli village of Nandurbar district in Maharashtra.
Mission: Launch of Aadhaar — a 12 digit unique identity number for citizens .

When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi gave the first set of identities to people of this village, it was the start of identity rollout the world has not seen before — in terms of scale, size, technology and reach.

The largest human biometric database is 120 million in the US. The government’s Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is doing 10 times that or reaching out to 1.2 billion people, with Aadhaar as the brand identity of the numbers issued.

Back in July 2009, technology czar and Infosys co-founder Nandan M. Nilekani was roped in by the government as chairman of the UIDAI with the rank and status of a Cabinet Minister.

He had just written Imagining India and the mission seemed simple: give every Indian a unique identity number. Yet it was more complex than anything that India had ever tackled or the world had ever seen. Indians have a PAN card, ration card, passport, driving licence, voter identity card, NREGA job card and so on.

Yet there’s no single number that uniquely identifies citizens. The bane of all card systems is duplicates, fakes, ghosts of all kinds and impersonation.

Says Nilekani, “Aadhaar will act as the `foundation’ for better delivery of public services and benefits. It will act as an enabler for inclusive growth.’’ It will be used by government and private agencies, like those offering rural employment or providing aid to the poorest, for a more transparent delivery of public services as well as giving easier access to services for the resident.

“The UID project has a potential of transforming public governance,’’ adds Nilekani.

Today, a large segement of the population has no formal identity document. This inhibits their access to welfare benefits as well as participation in the formal economy. Aadhaar addresses that issue by providing a universal, national, mobile identity that can be used throughout the country.

Further, Aadhaar has a potential in facilitating financial inclusion. “Aadhaar-enabled micro payment infrastructure will enable financial access at the doorstep of the resident,’’ says Mr Nilekani.

The rollout has started and will cover 600 million or half the population by 2014. The project is also a benchmark for public-private partnerships, spearheaded by Mr Nilekani with the over 200 people team comprising bureaucrats and experts from the private sector.

The 12-digit Aadhaar number is randomly generated, devoid of any classification based on caste, creed, religion and geography. The number is stored in a centralised database and linked to the basic demographics and biometric information – photograph, 10 fingerprints and iris – of each individual.

Aadhaar is verifiable online, and on mobile platform. The UIDAI believes the technology is robust enough to eliminate duplicate and fake identities in government and private databases. A unique effort indeed.


CLICK ON TITLE TO SEE ORIGINAL ARTICLE - Posted by