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

Saturday, April 23, 2011

1233 - 240481: Indian national biometric card - Source - The Hindu

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wanted to know the progress or status of Indian biometric ID card's development and deployment

240481 12/17/2009 10:52:00 PM 09STATE129198 Secretary of State SECRET//NOFORN 09NEWDELHI1052 VZCZCXYZ1277RR RUEHWEBDE RUEHC #9198 3512254ZNY SSSSS ZZHR 172252Z DEC 09FM SECSTATE WASHDCTO AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 8397 S E C R E T STATE 129198 NOFORN SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/17/2034 TAGS: PINR, PGOV, PREL, PTER, IN

SUBJECT: (S/NF) INDIAN NATIONAL BIOMETRIC ID CARD (C-NC9-02528)

REF: NEW DELHI 001052 (22 MAY 2009)

Classified By: ELISSA G. PITTERLE, DIRECTOR, INR/OPS. REASON: 1.4(C).

1. (S/NF) WASHINGTON ANALYSTS READ WITH KEEN INTEREST RECENT PRESS REPORTS ABOUT A PROPOSED BIOMETRIC NATIONAL ID PROJECT IN INDIA AND REQUEST POST ASSISTANCE IN FILLING INFORMATION GAPS ABOUT THE PROJECT. THE PROJECT HAS BEEN BILLED AT RECENT TRADE CONFERENCES AS THE LARGEST BIOMETRIC ENROLLMENT EVER PROPOSED AND IS THE BIGGEST BIOMETRIC INITIATIVE ANTICIPATED IN 2010. DESPITE PROMISED IMPROVEMENTS THE CARDS WOULD PROVIDE, ANALYSTS ARE CONCERNED THE PROGRAM COULD PRESENT A VULNERABLE TARGET FOR REGIONAL EXTREMIST GROUPS -- SUCH AS LASHKAR E-TAYYIBA -- WHO COULD OBTAIN FRAUDULENT INDIAN ID CARDS DURING THE LARGE-SCALE ENROLLMENT FOR USE IN TRAVEL OR AS BREEDER DOCUMENTS TO APPLY FOR PASSPORTS.

2. (S/NF) ANALYSTS SUBMIT FOR EMBASSY CONSIDERATION THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS THAT BUILD ON THE EXCELLENT ANSWERS PROVIDED EARLIER THIS YEAR IN REFTEL RESPONSE TO JOINT NATIONAL COUNTERTERRORISM CENTER AND S/CT REQUIREMENTS ON IMMIGRATION CONTROL AND WATCHLIST SYSTEMS. NOTING THAT MUCH OF THE TECHNICAL INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE SYSTEM MAY NOT BE DECIDED FOR SOME TIME, WE REMAIN MOST INTERESTED IN THE REASONS MOTIVATING THE PROPOSED PROGRAM, PLANNED SECURITY FEATURES OF THE CARDS AND ENROLLMENT PROCESS, AND ANY ANTI-FRAUD EFFORTS. RESULTS OF THESE REQUIREMENTS WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO A STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT FOR SENIOR US POLICYMAKERS ON THE REGIONAL IMPLICATIONS IN SOUTH ASIA OF THE BIOMETRIC ID PROGRAM. AS TIME AND RESOURCES PERMIT, WE WOULD PARTICULARLY WELCOME POST,S INSIGHT INTO THE FOLLOWING TOPICS AND QUESTIONS:

A) (SBU) PLEASE REPORT ON THE PROGRESS OR STATUS OF THE INDIAN BIOMETRIC ID CARD'S DEVELOPMENT AND DEPLOYMENT, TO THE EXTENT THIS INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.

B) (SBU) WHAT IS INDIA'S STRATEGIC PLAN FOR UTILIZING BIOMETRIC ID CARD TECHNOLOGY IN THE MILITARY, LAW ENFORCEMENT, AND PRIVATE SECTORS?

C) (SBU) WHICH GOVERNMENT AGENCIES WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR OVERSEEING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL ID CARD BIOMETRIC COLLECTION STRATEGY?

D) (SBU) HOW DO AUTHORITIES PLAN TO UTILIZE THE BIOMETRIC ID CARD AT INDIA'S BORDERS, PORTS, AND AIRPORTS?

E) (SBU) WHICH FOREIGN COUNTRIES AND/OR CORPORATIONS ARE ASSISTING IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ID CARD? WHICH BIOMETRIC SYSTEMS (I.E. FINGERPRINTS, FACIAL RECOGNITION, IRIS SCAN, ETC.) WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO THE CARD?

F) (SBU) WHAT PROMPTED DEVELOPMENT OF THE ID CARD?

G) (SBU) WHICH COMPANY IS PROVIDING THE BIOMETRIC COLLECTION DEVICES, STORAGE, AND MATCHING DATABASE EQUIPMENT? PLEASE PROVIDE THE NAME, MODEL, AND VERSION OF THE BIOMETRIC COLLECTION DEVICES USED FOR THE ID CARD, IF AVAILABLE.

H) (SBU) WHICH ORGANIZATIONS/AGENCIES WITHIN INDIA WILL HAVE ACCESS TO INFORMATION GATHERED BY THE BIOMETRIC ID CARD COLLECTION DEVICES?

I) (SBU) WHAT SYSTEMS, DATABASES, OR PORTALS WILL THE NAMED BIOMETRIC ID CARD COLLECTION DEVICES IN INDIA COMMUNICATE WITH?

J) (SBU) WILL THE ID CARD BE ACCEPTED FOR PASSPORT APPLICATIONS?

K) (SBU) WHAT TYPES OF ANTI-FRAUD MEASURES DO INDIAN AUTHORITIES PLAN TO INCORPORATE IN THE ISSUANCE PROCESS?

L) (SBU) WHAT SECURITY FEATURES ARE PLANNED FOR THE ID CARD? WILL THE CARD BE ICAO COMPLIANT AND WILL IT USE ANY ENCRYPTION? PLEASE REPORT ON ANY EFFORTS TO "SPOOF" OR DEFEAT BIOMETRIC ENROLLMENT, SUCH AS FINGERPRINT ALTERATION.

3. (U) PLEASE CITE C-NC9-02528 IN THE SUBJECT LINE OF REPORTING IN RESPONSE TO THE ABOVE QUESTIONS.

CLINTON
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